Rotimi Amaechi's Transport Ministry enmeshed in scholarship scam, as applicants besiege his Abuja office

Hundred of young Nigerians, on Wednesday besieged the  headquarter of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Abuja,  to submit applications for foreign scholarships being offered by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

Their application was however rejected by the authorities at the transport ministry on the condition that no such opportunities exist. Convinced that the ministry’s officials were not saying the truth, the youths staged a protest, blocking major entrance of the ministry.

The youths who later discovered that the officials were trying to restrict the scholarship opportunities to their own nominees, later marched on the office of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to protest the alleged manipulation.

But security officers attached to the ministry denied the applicants entry into the premises where the minister’s office is located.

However, in response to the tension caused by the protest, Sabiu Zakari , the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, in a press statement released on Wednesday evening, revealed that the alleged scholarship linked with the Construction firm for “railway engineering programme” was a scam, dissociating the ministry from such an engagement.

The statement said, “The ministry is not receiving any application for such training from the general public. Therefore the general public is advised to disregard any information being circulated for submission of such applications to the Ministry or any other person.”

However in a investigation conducted by PREMIUM TIMES, a ministry source disclosed that the permanent secretary and his ministry were not telling the truth.

The source said, “The facts are that CCECC, which is building a double-track standard gauge railway from Lagos in Southern Nigeria to Kano in the North, had approached the transportation ministry informing it of its plan to sponsor a number of young Nigerians to study for bachelor degrees in railway engineering in China,” a top official said. He requested not to be named for fear he might be victimised.

The source told PREMIUM TIMES that instead of advertising the opportunities to request applications from interested Nigerian youth, the ministry simply contacted top government officials to nominate candidates for the slots, thereby blocking interested applicants without connections to ministers and other government officials, from competing for the scholarships.

PREMIUM TIMES further gathered that  those asked by the ministry to nominate candidates include ministers, permanent secretaries, presidency officials and select federal lawmakers. The officials were requested to make the nominations in their personal capacities.

A copy of such letter sent by Mr. Zakari to the Minister of Trade, Investment & Industry, Okechukwu Enelamah, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES shows that the permanent secretary had on June 7, 2018 written to Mr. Enelamah, and other select top government functionaries to nominate suitable candidates for training as railway engineers in China.

On June 11, Mr. Zakari followed up with another letter to the minister and his colleagues detailing the specific requirements for nominees. He also asked the officials to forward the curriculum vitae and photocopies of required documents to his office before June 20, 2018.

Attempt by the newspaper to speak with Mr. Enemalah on Thursday morning failed as his mobile telephone line failed to connect. His spokesperson, Constance Ikoku, is also yet to respond to multiple calls made to her.

Selection interviews for the slots, Mr. Zakari had written, were scheduled for between June 21 and 23 at the CCECC headquarters along Airport Road, Abuja.