The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs is set to spend approximately ₦1.347 billion on tuition fees for 254 students at Baze University Abuja — averaging ₦5.31 million per student — as part of a scholarship scheme that channelled ₦4.184 billion exclusively to private universities in 2025 while no federal or state university received a single naira, according to government payment records reported by SaharaReporters.
Nigeria is spending millions per student on private university tuition — while federal universities that charge a fraction of the cost receive nothing from the same scheme.
Official government payment records published on the Govspend portal and reviewed by SaharaReporters show that the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs has already released ₦673,849,864.55 as the first 50 per cent instalment of tuition fees for 254 new students at Baze University Abuja for the September 2025 to August 2026 academic session — putting the total tuition bill at approximately ₦1.347 billion, or ₦5.31 million per student.
Crucially, the payment covers tuition only. Accommodation, feeding, books, transportation and medical care are not included.
The Baze payment is part of a wider pattern. A SaharaReporters review of the Govspend portal found that ₦4.184 billion was paid to private universities under the Niger Delta Students Scholarship Scheme in 2025 alone — with not a single federal or state university among the beneficiaries, despite Nigeria having 74 federal universities.
Several beneficiary institutions have notable ownership ties. Hensard University, owned by Senator Seriake Dickson, received ₦518 million for 99 students. Igbinedion University received ₦529 million for 555 students plus a further ₦359.6 million payment. Gregory University received payments totalling over ₦1 billion across two disbursements.
Other recipients included Afe Babalola University, Benson Idahosa University, Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Achievers University, Edwin Clark University and Nile University — all private institutions.
The cost disparity with public universities is stark. The University of Benin charges between ₦105,000 and ₦115,000 for fresh undergraduates, while Obafemi Awolowo University charges between ₦151,200 and ₦190,200 — a fraction of the ₦5.31 million per student being spent at Baze University under the same government scholarship programme.
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