The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has shortlisted about 5,885 from the over 38,000 students who applied for its 2026/2027 Postgraduate Overseas Scholarship Scheme (OSS).
This was disclosed by the Deputy General Manager, Education and Training at PTDF, Dr. Bello Mustafa, while briefing journalists at the PTDF Towers in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Overseas Scholarship Scheme is one of the flagship programmes of the Fund and has been consistently sponsoring Masters (M.Sc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidates since the year 2,000.
Specifically, for this year, Mustafa disclosed that “Over 38,000 people applied, but we shortlisted 5,885 candidates for the interviews based on our criteria and parameters.”
Mustafa explained that the shortlisted candidates emerged after a rigorous screening process based on the agency’s established criteria and parameters, adding that the interviews were being conducted simultaneously across six centres located in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
According to him, the centres include Bauchi in the North-East, Nsukka in the South-East, the PTDF headquarters in Abuja for the North-West, Kaduna State University for the North-Central, and the University of Port Harcourt for the South-South.
While noting that the exercise was designed to ensure broad participation and fairness in the selection process, the PTDF official also disclosed that the scholarship scheme was supported through partnerships with universities in Germany, France, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
“We have partnerships with Germany, France, Malaysia and the UK, and that is why we are conducting these interviews to select candidates who will eventually benefit from the scholarship.”
Mustafa further explained that the federal character principle would guide the final selection of successful candidates.
“The final selection is based on federal character. For instance, if we are given three MSc slots per state, each state will get three candidates, although some oil-producing states may receive additional slots.”
He added that officials from the Federal Character Commission were present to monitor the process and ensure transparency.
“The Federal Character Commission sends its officials to monitor the exercise to ensure fairness and that everybody has a good chance,” he said.
Speaking on the selection criteria, Mustafa said candidates were evaluated based on academic qualifications, relevant work experience and other measurable parameters.
“You must have at least a first class, second class upper- or second-class lower degree, as well as relevant working experience. Even your O’Level results are graded. If you have an A in a subject you get certain marks, and if you have B you get another mark.
“At the end of the day, it is the total score that determines who is invited for the interview,” he added.
Mustafa, however, said the final number of beneficiaries for the scholarship would depend on the available budgetary allocation.
“It all depends on the budget. Management will determine the final number of beneficiaries based on the budgetary conditions,” he said.
