ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Federal Government has vowed to clear outstanding payments owed to Nigerian students under the now-discontinued Bilateral Education Agreement scholarship scheme, with a total of N8bn earmarked for settlement.
The government explained that the programme had become heavily compromised by fraud and was being misused beyond its intended objective.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television.
According to him, N4bn has already been released, while approval for the remaining N4bn is expected within the next two weeks.
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“We’ve paid four billion of it. We’re disbursing the four billion now. This additional four billion will be approved. I’ve been in constant communication with Minister of Finance. It will be approved in the next two weeks. They will be settled,” he said.
Alausa stated that shortly after assuming office, one of the first documents presented to him revealed the extent of irregularities surrounding the scheme.
He recounted being asked to approve N650m for 60 students travelling to Morocco, adding that the list included a student sponsored to study English in a French-speaking country.
“650 million for 60 students? And as I was looking at the courses that were going to go to Morocco, we have Nigerian scholarship given to a student that will go study English in Morocco, a French-speaking country. Had so many of those courses, psychology, sociology, zoology, botany,” he said.
The minister explained that the BEA scheme was initially created as a diplomatic initiative to sponsor Nigerian students for specialised training abroad in disciplines such as medicine, engineering and aeronautics, but had gradually turned into a broad overseas scholarship programme.
He further revealed that investigations uncovered cases where beneficiaries were enrolled in Nigerian universities while also receiving BEA funds, a practice he condemned.
“We also had incidences of kids that got this scholarship that they’re studying in Nigerian universities, getting the money. So, we stopped it,” he said.
The BEA programme was established through bilateral agreements with countries such as China, Russia, Algeria, Hungary, Morocco, Egypt and Serbia, enabling hundreds of Nigerian students to pursue higher education overseas.
Funding for the scheme increased from N3.2bn in 2022 to N8bn in 2025.
The payment crisis affecting students began before the programme was officially scrapped. Between September 2023 and August 2024, beneficiaries reportedly received no payments.
Although disbursements resumed in September 2024, stipends were reduced by more than 56 per cent from previous levels.
Several students reportedly faced eviction from hostels and denial of access to university services because of unpaid fees.
The Federal Government formally discontinued the scheme in April 2025, impacting more than 1,200 Nigerian students studying abroad.
The suspension continued into 2026 despite a fresh N1.7bn allocation for the programme appearing in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
Authorities, however, clarified that the allocation was merely a procedural rollover and did not signal a return of the scheme.