Kiribati's former secretary to cabinet and opposition MP, Tetaua Taitai, says the Minister of Education is responsible for what he calls the mess in her ministry.
This follows reports that the niece of the current secretary to cabinet, Makurita Baaro, was part of a group of students given a scholarship at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji.
But Dr Taitai says person in question did not meet the admission criteria for the USP's degree programmes.
He says the selection of the students was done by the Scholarship Board appointed by the Minister.
But one official claims that the secretary to cabinet's niece had been on the original list.
Dr Taitai says the evidence speaks for itself and says this amounts to corruption.