PTDF screens 931 masters, PhD students for 2025 overseas scholarship

Laolu Elijah, Ibadan

THE management of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PDTF said yesterday that a total of 931 PhD and Masters degree candidates have been screened for the 2025/26 Overseas Scholarship Scheme.

This was disclosed by Mr Masud Mohammed, the staff of the PTDF and Team Lead for the 2025/26 Overseas Scholarship Scheme (OSS) award (South West) which held at the University of Ibadan. Speaking with newsmen during the screening exercise for the shortlisted candidates, he said, “for MSc, we had 749 candidates while we had 182 for the PhD candidates.

Our assessment as a team is that the quality of the candidates that have been shortlisted is high and they are the best of the best candidates we have had so far. The award is part of the cardinal activities of PTDF which is in line with the mandate of the Fund”.

On the sustainability of the transparency and integrity of the selection process, he said, “Some mechanisms have been put in place to ensure the integrity, transparency and fairness of the process. We invited the Federal Character Commission to oversee and participate in how we go about the process of the interview. The whole process has been automated, so you can see the results of the candidates real time. So, it’s not an analogue process.

“So far, the process has been smooth. Though, we cannot say there are no challenges, the challenges are not significant to hamper the process. The challenge we have is that some candidates are coming late for the interview. That would only drag the schedule we have. Notwithstanding, it will not deter us in ensuring that the last of the candidates is interviewed. This exercise has very well aligned with the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in terms of human capacity development for Nigerians. Our agenda in PTDF is to develop human capacity especially in the oil and gas industry in the country.

“This year, we are going to do a split side programme whereby the PhD candidates would do half of the scholarship in the country and the remaining in the United Kingdom. This we call domestication process. The programme is taking place in the six geopolitical zones of the country”.

One of the screened candidates, Mr Uchechukwu Ginika, who finished from University of Lagos said, “This screening exercise is the fairest I have ever seen. As a Nigerian, anytime you talk about an activity that should reflect federal character, a lot of us give up trying. We will be saying it’s for the children of those who are well positioned in government and they have decided who will win.

When I heard about the PTDF overseas scholarship, I asked around. The normal impression is to say, no, I’m not interested. I tried and despite the fact that I don’t know anybody, I tried and I was shortlisted. The exercise is a very fair process.”

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