The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has firmly denied any allegations of fraud in the operations of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying the claims are inaccurate and based on misinformation.
Speaking on Wednesday after a closed-door meeting with Vice Chancellors, officials of the National Universities Commission (NUC), representatives of NELFUND, and the Federal Ministry of Education, Alausa clarified that the reported discrepancies were merely issues related to processing timelines.
“Let me start by saying that there is no fraud in NELFUND. ICPC reported that the information was not correct,” Alausa said. “What we have are issues that have to do with the timeline.”
His comments came in response to recent concerns raised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which launched a probe into the loan disbursement process following reports of alleged financial irregularities.
Last week, the ICPC revealed that its preliminary investigation showed only ₦28.8 billion of the ₦100 billion released by the Federal Government had been disbursed to students, leaving ₦71.2 billion unaccounted for. The commission’s spokesperson, Demola Bakare, announced that a Special Task Force had begun investigating the alleged discrepancy.
The situation sparked outrage among stakeholders, including the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), which threatened nationwide protests. Additionally, the National Orientation Agency alleged that some tertiary institutions, in collusion with banks, were intentionally delaying payments to students for profit.
There were also reports that some institutions made unauthorized deductions from student loan disbursements, with amounts ranging from ₦3,500 to ₦30,000.
Despite the controversies, Alausa maintained that the government was committed to transparency and efficiency in administering the student loan programme, and reassured the public that corrective measures were being implemented to address the delays and improve the scheme’s rollout.
“We are working closely with all stakeholders to streamline the process and ensure that eligible students get the support they need without unnecessary obstacles,” he added.
The student loan scheme, managed by NELFUND, was launched to provide financial assistance to Nigerian students pursuing higher education, with the aim of improving access and reducing the financial burden on families.
