Iheanacho Nwosu, Abuja
The Presidential Amnesty Office has denied reports it abandoned 19 students at a Russian university.The amnesty office said the students’ first degree programmes were wholly funded by the office, and also, explained that it
never had agreement with any student to embark on postgraduate studies in Russia.
The amnesty office said this in reaction to a report which credited one Abilo Franz as having accused the office of abandoning students under its sponsorship, in Russia.
But, in a statement by the Special Assistant (Media) to SAPND/Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programmme (PAP), Murphy Ganagana, the office dismissed the report as untrue and mischievous.
“We want to state that this is not a true picture of the situation but a mischievous misrepresentation of facts concocted to blackmail the amnesty office, to take responsibility for an obligation it does not owe them.”
The amnesty office said it originally sponsored 50 students to the People’s Friendship University, Moscow, mainly for Bachelors Degree programmes in March 2011 and added that by June 2016, 24 students were left and 21 among them duly completed and graduated with good grades, for which they were congratulated by the amnesty office for their sterling performance.
“On August 8, 2016, the Amnesty Office formally communicated them, via a letter, notifying them that upon the completion of their graduation ceremonies in June 2016, payment of their tuition fees and allowances had ceased with the payment of June/July In-Training Allowances (ITA). They were requested to inform the Office of the Special Adviser, within 10 days of receipt of the letter, the exact date they intended to return to Nigeria, in order to facilitate the issuance of their flight tickets.
“Instead of complying with the directive to return home, for which their sponsorship strictly covered, the affected students opted to proceed on postgraduate programmes on their own volition, thereby, making financial commitments to the institution in their private capacity, perhaps, with the hope of assistance from the amnesty office.
“That was the situation until May 11, 2018, when they sent an appeal for support, via email, to the incumbent Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, through the Head, Offshore Education of the Amnesty Office.
“It is, therefore, uncharitable, baseless and unfair for the 19 Nigerian students, who had graduated from their bachelors degree programmes, for which they were sponsored by the PAP and were not granted scholarship for postgraduate studies, to allege abandonment by the amnesty office, and, by extension, the Federal Government of Nigeria…”