Kano State Government said it spent over N1.8 billion on payment of scholarship allowances to its students in tertiary institutions in the first eight month of the year.
The state Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Kano on Friday.
Garba said the state government was heavily burdened by the scholarship liability it inherited from the immediate past administration.
He added that some of the programmes being undertaken by the students abroad could be offered in higher institutions in the country.
“The previous administration sent many students abroad for programmes they could have done successfully in higher institutions in the country,’’ he said.
The commissioner said the need for accountability had necessitated the briefing on what the government had spent so far on scholarship programmes for its indigenes.
According to him, the amount spent on scholarship was running into billions of Naira because many of their students were schooling abroad.
He said the state Government had paid allowances and other upkeep of the home based students.
Garba pleaded for patience of beneficiaries who were yet to be paid by the government.
He disclosed that the government also spent over N500million on accreditation of courses in the state-owned higher institution.
He noted that the scholarship burden was increasing daily for the state, as a result of the poor planning of previous administration.
“In order to maintain human face, the administration has continued to pay the fees pending the graduation of those who were sent abroad,’’ he said.