Nigeria’s increasingly powerful oil Minister, Rilwanu Lukman, seems poised ensure the flow of some oil money into his private coffers, courtesy of some clever moves now being made in the sector. But Saharareporters has unearthed the scam.
Earlier this week, the boss of the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), Engr. Muttaqha Rabe Darma, was quoted by the Leadership newspaper edition of 11 August 2009 as saying that “… September 30, 2009 the Fund's management will disengage the services of Messrs Univation Limited at the expiration of their contract while Messrs Faraday Education Limited would be appointed on a reduced scope of service”.
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Mr. Darma added, "The new consultant would assist in the smooth takeover of the overseas administration of the OSS by PTDF. The consultant would also serve as an intermediary between the scholars and the Fund on any issue of concern and provide some pastoral services to scholars where necessary".
While the change looks harmless on the surface, most PTDF scholars are worried about the way this so-called change will affect their educational sojourn in the UK considering the fund’s inefficient and bureaucratic past. Saharareporters has also found out that the newly appointed company is a front for the minister of Petroleum resources, Rilwan Lukman.
Further, the new company to assist the PTDF in their bid to take over the running of the Overseas Scholarship Scheme (OSS) is also alien to the business of managing scholars or scholarships. According to Saharareporters investigations, Faraday Educational Limited, the company now contracted to handle all the PTDF scholars in the UK, came into existence only in March 2009.
The company was registered in the Companies House UK on 02/03/2009 with its registered address at the time of registration being number 6, Queen Anne’s Gate, Kensington in London. Further investigations reveal that 6 Queen Anne’s Gate Kensington is an apartment hotel that is being run as “John Howard Hotels”, situated in the high brow Kensington area in London.
The John Howard Hotel in Kensington, London, is a Best Western franchise hotel that is connected to the business interest of the Bhundia family. The Best Western website link for the John Howard Hotel lists Minesh Bhundia as the host for guests to the hotel. Minesh Bhundia is also a Director of Faraday Educational Limited, according to Company House records. Another director of the company is Mr. Prakash Bhundia, a British citizen who is also co-director of Africa Heritage Oil and Gas along with Nigeria’s current Minister of Oil resources, Rilwanu Lukman. Alhaji Lukman resigned as a director of Africa Heritage Oil and Gas on December 12 2008 but his imprints are all over the Faraday Educational Limited as the company shares the same directors and address with Faraday Educational Limited at Number 6 Queensgate London SW 7 5EH.
Apart from Mr. Lukman, who claimed to be a South African, Mr. Prundia Bundia appears on the board of Africa Oil and Gas with two South Africans-Paranathan Mariemuthu and Mutumwa Dziva-as well as Prakash Bhundia who acts as company secretary.
On the 1st of August this year, probably in anticipation of the PTDF announcement, Faraday Education Limited changed its registered office address from the hotel in Kensington to 22 Red Lion Court, near Fetter Lane, in Central London.
The company is registered with 1000 shares valued at £1 per share, which means that as a limited liability company, its intrinsic value is just £1000. That translates to less than the monthly amount being spent by PTDF to maintain even one of their hundreds of scholars in the UK.
What has got the scholars understandably worried is that they will end up dealing with a freshly-minted company with no track record of dealing with the needs of foreign students and no experience in the business for which, seemingly, it was formed. As of the time of writing this story, no PTDF scholar in the UK has been notified who or where the company that will manage the scholarship scheme is.
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This lack of communication is what the scholars find worrisome as can be seen from entries into an internet discussion group they have formed to discuss the situation; ("PTDF PhD Scholars Forum (UK)" [email protected]).
The scholars fear that a laudable scheme like the PTDF scholarship scheme may be engulfed in the corruption and inefficiency that has affected other dealings of the PTDF in the past.
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