The Kaduna State Government has withheld grants of 1,433 bursary applicants over after discovering irregularities in the Bank Verification Number (BVN) submitted to the State Scholarship and loans board.
It said that the affected applicants of the 2019/2020 bursary would not receive their grant after discrepancies between the information they supplied the board during application and the one they supplied the bank when registering their BVN.
The scholarship board, in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, disclosed that at the BVN verification stage, it was discovered that the date of birth presented by the applicants does not correspond with what was stated in their application forms.
In the statement which contained the names of the affected applicants, the board further advised the applicants to visit the bank and rectify the issues.
The statement reads: “The board wishes to inform the under listed applicants of the 2019/2020 bursary that their application is at the BVN Unconfirmed stage which means they cannot be paid because there are discrepancies between the information they supplied the board during application and the one they supplied the bank when registering their BVN(especially the date of birth).
“Hence they are advised to rectify such issues by changing their date of birth with their banks to the correct one as shown on their documents with the board”.
Earlier, the board secretary, Hassan Rilwan, disclosed that under the burdary year, the government has paid N22.9 million to 211 students for the 2019/2020 academic session, barely a week after paying 207 students bringing the total number of students paid from January 2021 to 418 students amount to 45.5 million naira as bursary payment continues.
Rilwan said: “In line with the transparency policy of the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board, find below the names of the beneficiaries. Any student on the list who has not been paid must have supplied a wrong bank account number or a student’s account that cannot receive N109,000 at once. Such student will have to officially inform the Board in writing and wait patiently as the Board is currently focused on paying more students who have supplied adequate information.
“Students are encouraged to immediately apply for the 2020/2021 bursary which is now open. Going forward, students will not have to apply annually but will just need to update their profile with their academic status to continue to enjoy the state government’s educational intervention.
“It is very important, that students input correct and consistent information about themselves especially ensuring that they input the same date of birth as the one in their documents and the bank’s BVN record. If there are discrepancies, they should visit the bank to change the date of birth to the actual as shown in their documents. Students should also ensure that they input the correct bank details and avail the Board with upgraded accounts that can receive N109,000 at once.
“It has also come to our notice that certain criminals claiming to be from the Board are calling students asking for their bank details including their BVN. Students should please desist from disclosing such sensitive information to anybody. Students are henceforth advised to only supply and update documents through their profile on our portal. Kindly disregard any phone call or link sent to you asking for account details or BVN immediately.
“The Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board will continue to listen to feedback on how to ease application and disbursement of funds but will not be distracted by naysayers, fake information peddlers, and profiteers of the former ‘who you know’ influence peddling system as it tries to disburse government’s grant in a transparent manner”.
