Federal Ministry of Education Denies Receiving Formal Request for Maths Olympiad Finalist, Agbo Adoga

The Federal Ministry of Education has publicly dismissed claims that it refused to sponsor a brilliant Nigerian student for an international competition, attributing the confusion to a lack of formal communication.

The controversy centres around Agbo Adoga, a 15-year-old student from Graceland International School, Port Harcourt, who recently achieved a perfect score of 1600 on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and qualified to represent the country at the upcoming International Mathematics Olympiad in China.

Public outrage flared after an education advocate, Alex Onyia, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the student’s participation was jeopardized because the Ministry of Education had allegedly turned down a sponsorship request due to “no funds.”

However, in a statement signed by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Feo Folasade, the Federal Ministry of Education issued a clear denial on Sunday, asserting that there is no bureaucratic bottleneck because no request was ever received through the proper channels.

“The Ministry affirms that there is no record or correspondence in its files indicating any such request for sponsorship from any recognised body,” the statement read. The Ministry stressed that it was not aware of the report circulating online regarding the supposed sponsorship request.

The government body urged the public to disregard the unverified report and called on any recognized institution or body with a verifiable request to submit it formally for “necessary action.” The Ministry reiterated its commitment to encouraging and supporting outstanding Nigerian students through established “due process and transparent procedures.”