The regular students of Kwara State origin who passed out from the Nigerian Law School in 2010 have pleaded with the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, to redress what they referred to as the diversion of money meant for their annual grant.

According to a letter to Ahmed and obtained by our correspondent on Monday, the 120 ex-Law students said the immediate-past Governor of the state, Dr. Bukola Saraki, had on August 13, 2010 approved N33.9m for their set based on their appeal for the payment of their annual grant and for support from the state government.

The group in the letter signed by its president and secretary, Mr. Saka Agaka, and Lukman Balogun respectively, alleged that some top government officials (names withheld) delayed the payment.

This, the group claimed, was done so that the money could be allegedly diverted for the payment of the current set of students of which one of the sons of one of the top government functionaries was allegedly a beneficiary.

“It is on record that no money was officially approved by either the outgone or present administration in the state for the current set in the Nigerian Law School. It was the money approved and billed to be paid to our set, 2009/2010 that was diverted to pay the current set.

“The state government under Dr. Bukola Saraki’s leadership in his wisdom increased the yearly grants from N25,000 inherited from late Alhaji Mohammed Lawal’s administration in 2003 when the Law School increased its school fees from N70,000 to the current N250,000 in 2009.

“No fewer than eight sets before us have benefitted from these annual grants while two sets after us have also benefitted. What an injustice! Are we not bona fide Kwarans? What have we done to deserve this glaring injustice and discrimination? When does payment of annual grants to law students of state origin becomes the exclusive right of only the children of the power-that-be in Kwara State?

“It would interest Your Excellency to know that some of us took loans from Cooperatives Societies and other creditors because of the exorbitant fees charged by the Nigerian Law School with the hope of repaying same with interest after receiving the state government’s yearly financial grant which has been an annual grant since 1999 when democracy was restored to the country,” the former students said.

The group appealed to Ahmed to come to their aid, saying that some of their creditors had started threatening to sue them for the recovery of the debts in the event that the principal and the accrued interest were not paid on time.

The letter was copied to some past and present top government functionaries including the Acting Chief Judge of the state, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, the Director, State Security Services, Commissioner of Police, Kwara State, founding Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Justice Mustapha Akanbi (Retd); and the Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ilorin branch, Mr. Salman Jawondo.