The Senate has called on the Presidential Amnesty Programme to urgently reimburse a Nigerian who rescued the country’s scholarship students in Russia to the tune of N217million.
This was sequel to a motion moved by Chief Whip of the Senate, Sola Adeyeye, at Wednesday plenary.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Albert Bassey, who moved an additional prayer, disclosed that the incident occurred four years ago when a compassionate Nigerian salvaged an embarrassing situation by paying the tuition fees of Federal Government’s sponsored students studying in Moscow, Russia.
“There is a Nigerian in Russia that when the Niger Delta Amnesty Students locked up in Nigerian Embassy in Moscow, a Nigerian intervened and salvaged the country from that embarrassment in 2013. As I speak, that Nigerian is yet to be refunded by the Amnesty Programme of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the tune of N217 million,” he said.
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The motion was seconded by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Kabir Marafa.
Senate President Bukola Saraki who presided over the session, thereafter put the motion to voice vote and it was approved.
The Senate also summoned all federal agencies responsible for scholarships to Nigerians students abroad, to meet with the Senate President next week, with a view to resolving the issue of non-payment of tuition fees by Nigerian students abroad.
Heads of agencies expected to meet with the Senate President include the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and National Universities Commission (NUC).
In a substantive motion by Adeyeye, he described the non-payment of scholarships of Nigerian students studying in Russia as embarrassing to the nation.
“Just last week, a very strong delegation from this Senate was in Russia and as part of our visit there we had the privilege to meet with Nigerians living in Russia, good proportion of whom are Nigerian scholars; students who got scholarship either the presidential scholarship or the PTDF scholarship.
“The story that these students told us were most pitiable. They regaled us with endless stories of suffering because their stipend and tuitions have not been paid. Just last night, I got a very lengthy email from Nigerian scholars in the UK, complaining just like those students that spoke in your presence in Russia.
“The stipends on which these students will live for food, transportation, housing have not been paid for many months. This has become embarrassing to our republic,” he said.
In his remarks, Saraki said the Senate leadership would meet with heads of the agencies concerned with a view to solving the issue and restore the country’s image abroad.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
