Physical Verification: Kwara govt reply 2018/2019 Kwara law students , we discover fake names online - Ajakaye
The Chief Press Secretary to the state governor Mr Rafiu Ajakaye has responded to accusation from the 2018/2019 law students concerning Bursary while responding in one whatsapp group to a story published by Just Event Online.com on the issue of law students bursary.
Ajakaye reply are below
The issue is complicated. I will try to explain.
The government has tried to be as transparent and IT-compliant as possible. But corruption is threatening its efforts from the part of some of the beneficiaries. Please note my choice of words: "Some". You will recall that govt recently approved scholarship (100K each) for 89 students of Kwara origin who are currently in the law school. Online applications were received. Everything was done online. However, government discovered during the screening process that 23 fake names were inserted. Govt got to know this because, as part of its verification exercise, it made direct request to the DG Law School to verify the names of the students since they are still there. That saved Kwara N2.3m of the money approved. That our future leaders can seek to do such a thing to their own state clearly calls for worry. That is that.
Now, the government has also approved scholarship of 100K for another set up of law school students who recently finished their programme there. They are about 150. Same online processes were followed as before. And, again, the same attempt to manipulate the system was discovered. Many weren't law school students while some who were law school students were not from Kwara. The attempted fraud is humongous this time around. It's horrible. You may ask why is government now calling for physical screening when it could have done what it did for the first batch?
The first batch comprises students who are still in the Law School. The second batch comprises those who have left and are not under the direct supervision of the school. Government of course applied for confirmation of the list of the second batch from the DG but it hasn't worked out. One top official (no point mentioning name) from the law school later sent in a list comprising/confirming the exact names which the govt has reasonable grounds to dispute as fraudulent. The said official refused to sign the list and the government is saying no. You either sign it as a mark of authentication or we don't accept it as authentic. To break the ice, the government is asking the prospective beneficiaries to appear physically. That is exactly what led to the call for physical verification. It was never intended but officials involved, including respected professors and bureaucrats, have a duty to insist on probity and protect their own hard-earned names. I hope this helps.
0 Comments