The apex Northern socio-cultural group, ‎Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has accused the National Universities Commission (NUC) of lopsidedness against the north in the award of Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development (PERSS ID)‎.

ACF in a communiqué issued yesterday said, ‎it ‎considers the lopsidedness as a deliberate act of impunity designed to deny Nigerians from the Northern extraction of the country the laudable program of the Federal Government that is meant to serve as a catalyst of change and agents of scientific and technological advancement.

“The list of successful candidates for the award of Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development (PERSS ID) for the 2015/2016 academic session as released by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and published in the Daily Trust of April 16th, 2015 appeared lopsided and favoured mostly, the southern part of Nigeria.

“Last year when the list of successful candidates for the PRESSID was released, ACF and indeed our senators did complain on the lopsidedness of the list in favour of the southern states and even called upon the NUC to suspend the exercise. ACF did previously call upon the National Universities Commission to not only ensure transparency in future selection of beneficiaries, but urged it to publicize the criteria used in selecting and also indicate states of origin of successful candidates in the final list.

“Apparently, federal character and the previous appeal made by ACF have not been taken seriously by NUC in the selection exercise of the PRESSID for the 2015/2016 academic session.

“ACF considers this as a deliberate act of impunity designed to deny Nigerians from the Northern part of the country this laudable program of the Federal Government that is meant to serve as a catalyst of change and agents of scientific and technological advancement.

“ACF once more wishes to appeal to NUC and other organs of Government to ensure fairness, transparency and equitable distribution of available vacancies amongst all qualified Nigerians that are abound in all the states of the federation.” and further called upon northern state governors to show interest in such programs and ensure that their people benefit.
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In a swift reaction to the allegation, NUC has debunked the claims of the ACF, referring to it as false and misleading and has insisted that unlike other scholarships, the PRESSID is solely based on merit with the historical background of beneficiaries brought to fore in comparison with their class of degree in order to checkmate foul play.

Spokesperson of the commission, Mallam Ibrahim Yakasai remarked that “NUC operates an open door policy and the presidential scholarship scheme has been conducted with total transparency with even northern stakeholders involved in the process.

He revealed that “the process went through thorough scrutiny, a committee was set up which involved professors from all the six geo-political zones, and even the exams were computer based. So many entries were made and the best were selected.”

LEADERSHIP also recalls that the media which also has representatives in all the regions have always been actively involved in the exercise, especially the computer based test, with results released immediately.

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