The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has officially commenced the 2025 selection interviews for its prestigious Overseas Scholarship Scheme, shortlisting over 5,000 candidates from a record pool of more than 29,000 applicants vying for MSc and PhD placements in top international universities.
The scholarship programme, one of Nigeria’s most competitive education initiatives for the energy sector, kicked off its nationwide interview sessions on Monday across six designated centres in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Enugu, Bauchi, and Kaduna — each representing the country’s geopolitical zones.
Supervised by panels comprising professors and research experts, the ongoing assessment process is focused on identifying Nigeria’s best talents for training in energy-related fields at partner institutions in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Malaysia, and other global destinations.
Speaking at the formal launch in Abuja, Bello Mustapha, PTDF’s Deputy General Manager of Education and Training, reiterated the Fund’s unwavering commitment to merit, equity, and transparency.
“This exercise is critical to our mandate of building capacity in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. We cannot afford to let it be undermined by personal interests or carelessness,” he stated.
Panel members were reminded that evaluations must be based on predetermined merit criteria — including academic performance, research potential, leadership abilities, and overall suitability for overseas studies. Mustapha also issued a stern warning against unethical conduct such as lobbying or tampering with scores, emphasizing that “professionalism and integrity are non-negotiable.”
“Any violation may lead to disqualification of the candidate and blacklisting of the panellist involved,” he cautioned.
In a notable innovation this year, PTDF rolled out a new split-site PhD initiative, which allows doctoral candidates to complete part of their research locally at the PTDF College of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Kaduna, while finishing their programmes in foreign universities like Robert Gordon University, University of Portsmouth, and University of Strathclyde.
Mustapha said the model is designed to cut costs, enhance local research capability, and encourage joint academic supervision.
To further ensure transparency, PTDF has introduced digitally enhanced scoring systems that eliminate subjectivity. Only subjects relevant to a candidate’s proposed field will be considered, with non-relevant entries such as Civic Education or local languages automatically excluded.
Bolanle Kehinde Agboola, Head of the Overseas Scholarship Scheme, confirmed the shortlisting of 5,000 candidates after a robust filtering process using electronic scoring tied to submitted credentials.
“Today, we are here for the interview exercise to select candidates for the award of the PTDF Overseas Scholarship Scheme for the year 2025/26. Candidates have arrived, and panellists have been briefed,” she said.
She noted that while the interview is a major milestone, the final number of awardees will be determined by PTDF management after all assessments are concluded.
“For over 25 years, this scheme has been recognised for its transparency and fairness. We have a thorough system that begins electronically and ends with human verification to ensure everything checks out,” she added.
The PTDF Overseas Scholarship Scheme remains a cornerstone of the federal government’s human capital development strategy for the energy sector, aimed at nurturing a new generation of technically skilled Nigerian professionals.
Interviews will continue in the coming weeks, with all shortlisted candidates required to undergo individual evaluations in strict adherence to federal character principles.
