NELFUND Denies Diverting N71.2bn Student Loan Funds
The National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has denied allegations of fund diversion in the execution of the students loan scheme, insisting that all disbursements were properly accounted for.
Speaking before the House of Representatives Committee on Students Loan, Scholarship and Higher Education, the Managing Director of NELFUND, Adekunle Sawyer, described the claims made by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) as misleading and damaging.
Recall, ICPC had disclosed earlier in May that it commenced a comprehensive investigation into alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of student loans under NELFUND.
The National Orientation Agency alleged that certain schools, working together with some banks, have purposely delayed payments to students who qualified for loans so they could make money off the situation.
According to reports, some institutions made unauthorized deductions ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from each student’s institutional fees received through the loan fund.
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In a statement by the ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, the commission stated that its Chairman’s Special Task Force immediately commenced investigations upon receiving the allegations.
He noted that the anti-graft agency preliminary findings showed that while the Federal Government had reportedly released N100 billion for the scheme, only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving a massive unaccounted sum of N71.2 billion.
Denying the ICPC report, Mr. Sawyer said “We were caught up in that release by the ICPC, who indicated that funds had been diverted by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. We immediately reacted because we recognised the damage it could do to public confidence, especially in a scheme already met with skepticism”.
He noted that although the ICPC later retracted its statement, the damage to public trust had already been done.
Providing a breakdown of the fund’s disbursements, Sawyer revealed that a total of N54 billion has been released since the scheme’s inception. Of this amount, N30 billion went to institutional payments, while N24 billion was disbursed as stipends or upkeep funds to 293,000 direct beneficiaries.
