FCT scholarship board seeks budget increase
By Sarah Negedu
The Federal Capital Territory Scholarship Board has appealed for increased funding to expand scholarship opportunities for indigent residents and indigenes, saying the current budget is inadequate to meet growing demand amid prevailing economic realities.
The appeal came on Thursday during a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja convened to review preparations for the 2025/2026 scholarship exercise and address challenges encountered in previous award cycles.
Stakeholders, including traditional rulers, school administrators and community representatives, urged the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to approve an upward review of scholarship allocations, arguing that higher funding would enable more brilliant but financially disadvantaged students to benefit from the scheme.
Speaking at the meeting, Director of the FCT Scholarship Board, Hannah David, said the Board remained committed to supporting indigent and deserving students across the territory.
“The FCT Scholarship Board remains committed to its mandate of identifying and supporting indigent, brilliant, and deserving students within the Federal Capital Territory, providing them with the financial support they need to pursue their educational goals without undue hardship,” she said.
David explained that the meeting was organised to review previous scholarship processes, address identified shortcomings and develop a smoother framework for the 2025/2026 exercise.
She said discussions focused on application timelines, wider sensitisation in rural communities across the six area councils and measures to prevent duplication so that only qualified applicants benefit from the programme.
“The task of nurturing our future leaders is one that no single agency can accomplish alone,” she added.
The Director also addressed concerns raised by traditional rulers over delays in scholarship payments to some successful applicants, attributing the problem largely to errors made during registration.
According to her, at least 48 beneficiaries had their payments returned because they submitted incorrect account details, used their parents’ bank accounts or provided accounts operated by fintech platforms such as OPay and Moniepoint, which are not supported by the payment system.
She said the Board later contacted the affected students individually to correct their account details before their payments were successfully processed.
To prevent similar problems in the new application cycle, David said applicants must use only commercial bank accounts, avoid third-party accounts, possess at least five credits including English Language and Mathematics, and submit their applications early.
She noted that scholarship funding comes entirely from the FCT Administration’s budget, adding that the current policy allocates 80 per cent of awards to indigent indigenes and 20 per cent to indigent residents across basic, post-basic, tertiary and foreign education programmes.
“What we normally give as scholarships is solely from the FCTA budget, which is why we cannot reach every deserving student.
“Our collective prayer and appeal to our worker-friend Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, is for an increment in the budget so we can expand this safety net to more of our children.”
Stakeholders also advocated greater investment in technical and vocational education, with the representative of the Aguma of Gwagwalada calling for skills acquisition centres in all six area councils and improved guidance for applicants during the registration process.
Also speaking, President of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools, ANCOPSS, FCT Chapter, Dr. Jiya Umar, commended traditional rulers for supporting education, noting that the Etsu Kwali had personally sponsored about 15 indigent secondary school students under the scholarship scheme.
Delivering the vote of thanks, the Board’s Head of Department, Scholarship Award Division, Alice Isah, appreciated traditional rulers, community leaders and education stakeholders for attending the meeting despite the heavy rainfall.
“Despite the rains, you honored our invitation. This shows that we are all on the same page. All hands must be on deck to make this scholarship work. We are doing our best, and the more support we get, the better it will be for our children,” she said.
