NELFund Denies Misusing Student Loan Funds Amid ICPC Investigation

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) has dismissed reports suggesting that it mismanaged or diverted money meant for student loans.

This comes after reports emerged that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had opened a probe into possible irregularities in how the loan funds were distributed.

The reports claimed that 51 higher institutions had engaged in unauthorized deductions and exploitation under the student loan scheme.

It was also reported that although the federal government had released N100 billion for the program, only N28.8 billion had reached students, leaving over N71 billion unaccounted for.

The ICPC said it has begun questioning several key officials, including the director general of the budget office, the accountant general of the federation, and representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria. NELFund’s managing director, Akintunde Sawyerr, was also asked to submit relevant records.

According to the ICPC, NELFund had received N203.8 billion as of March 19, 2024. This total came from several sources including FAAC, the EFCC, and TETFund. Out of that amount, N44.2 billion had been disbursed to 299 institutions, supporting nearly 300,000 students.

Reacting in a statement on Thursday, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, the head of strategic communications for NELFund, described the report as misleading and lacking context, stressing that the allegations are false, reckless, and harmful to the credibility of the loan program.

Oluwatuyi defended the scheme’s integrity, saying that all tuition payments go directly to verified schools, while students’ allowances are paid into their verified bank accounts.

“All institutional fees are paid directly to verified institutions, while upkeep allowances go into the verified bank accounts of eligible students.

“The reports circulating in the public space are based on outdated figures and previous interventions that predate our operations,” she said.

She added that the system in place is fully automated, with each transaction tracked digitally to prevent any form of fraud.

She also stressed that the numbers being cited in the media are outdated and don’t reflect the current operations of the student loan scheme, which officially opened its application portal in 2024.

KanyiDaily recalls that Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin (rtd.), and the Deputy Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), was recently arrested by the ICPC.