The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ilorin Zonal Office, has commenced investigations into allegation of N150 million bursary fraud made against some management staff of Kwara State Scholarship Board.

As part of the investigation, operatives of the have interrogated officials of the Board, including the Chairperson, Hajia Fatimoh Yusuf, Executive Secretary, Mr Fatai Lamidi, and the Board’s Accountant, Mr Stephen Ajewole, among others.

An EFCC statement on Thursday said that the Kwara State Government in 2017 and 2018 released the sum of N150 million as bursary allowance for 10,000 students in various tertiary institutions who are indigenes of Kwara State.

“The Commission gathered that the board did not pay up to four thousand Students but fraudulently converted the balance to personal use.

“Names of students in various higher institutions of learning allegedly appeared as beneficiaries of bursary allowances at the Kwara State Scholarship Board but never received the money,” according to the statement signed by EFCC Head, Media & Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren.

It added: “In the course of investigation, the students who sighted their names, matriculation numbers and signature became very angry, insisting that their signatures were forged.

“They claimed not to have been the original beneficiaries of the controversial bursary allowance despite their particulars on the scholarship board documents.

“The officials of the board had earlier told the operatives of the anti-graft body that the students were issued cheques but the Commission discovered that only few beneficiaries received cash payment.”