By Chukwudi Obasi, Abuja
The Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFund) has reaffirmed its commitment to accountability and transparency in managing the student loan scheme, insisting that its records show a clean disbursement process of N54bn to students across 303 public institutions in Nigeria.
Speaking yesterday during an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Student Loans, NELFund’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, dismissed recent allegations of fund diversion as baseless.
He described them as damaging public trust in a program designed to empower underprivileged Nigerian students.
According to him, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) issued a statement last Friday that hinted at irregularities and potential diversion of funds from the scheme.
He explained that the statement appeared to have been influenced by media reports citing misconduct in 51 institutions.
However, Sawyerr clarified that while there may have been infractions within those institutions, mainly related to how they handle student access and fees, NELFund itself was wrongfully dragged into the matter.
“We, as NELFund, were caught up in the ICPC release, which implied that funds had been diverted,” he said.
“We immediately responded because of the possible damage such a claim could inflict on the scheme. Though we knew the claim was unfounded, we understood the danger to public perception.”
He noted that within hours of NELFund’s rebuttal, the ICPC issued a revised statement, retracting any suggestion that the Fund had misappropriated monies.
While the Commission maintained its position regarding irregularities in certain institutions, it withdrew entirely its earlier implication of financial wrongdoing on the part of NELFund.
Sawyerr described the development as unprecedented, “To see a security agency retract a statement within hours is rare in Nigeria. However, the damage was already done. Misinformation, once public, takes on a life of its own.”
Providing clarity on the Fund’s financial activities, the NELFund boss disclosed that the agency had disbursed a total of N54bn, split into two major components: N30bn paid directly to 303 government-owned institutions, including federal and state universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. N24bn paid 293,000 Nigerian students currently studying in those institutions as stipends.”
He noted that 293,000 students have been confirmed to be directly beneficiaries of the Fund’s support.
Sawyerr explained that these disbursements are guided by law, which mandates that 90% of all funds received by NELFund must be used strictly for student loans and cannot be diverted for any other purpose.
He further broke down the total sum of N203bn that NELFund has received in its Central Bank account to date:
“N10 billion from the Office of the Accountant-General, released following budgetary allocation from the Ministry of Finance. N143bn from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), released in two tranches of N71bn each, following a directive from President Bola Tinubu.
“N50bn in recovered proceeds of crime, released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as an intervention fund, also on the President’s directive.”
Sawyerr said these figures were important because the initial report that fueled the controversy had been riddled with errors.
Earlier, Chairman of the Committee, Ifeoluwa Ehindero, said the Committee convened the meeting in response to growing concerns on social media about how the student loan scheme was being administered.
He praised NELFund for its prompt appearance and detailed explanation, adding that the committee will continue to provide oversight to ensure transparency in the disbursement and administration of student loans.
