The Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, has dispelled speculations of wrongdoing against the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying no fraud was uncovered in the student loan scheme.
Alausa clarified the allegations of loan deductions by universities and fraud in NELFUND on Wednesday, following various levels of investigation and a meeting with Vice Chancellors, officials of the National Universities Commission (NUC), NELFUND, and the Federal Ministry of Education.
He gave NELFUND a clean bill of health, describing the statement issued by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) as incorrect.
“Let me start by saying that there is no fraud in NELFUND. ICPC reported that the information was not correct. There is no fraud in NELFUND; what we have are issues related to the timeline,” he said.
Recently, the ICPC announced it had commenced a comprehensive investigation into alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of student loans under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
Alausa also announced the formation of a multi-stakeholder committee comprising Vice Chancellors, the NUC, NELFUND, and the Ministry of Education.
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The committee, he said, has been tasked with assessing existing processes and delivering new, standardised guidelines to improve the disbursement, communication, and management of NELFUND student loans nationwide.
“We debated and discussed the processes that NELFUND has in place, and the processes our universities have put in place to receive money from NELFUND. We also examined how students are notified and how soon they receive funds after payment. The process seems to work well,” Alausa said.
He acknowledged that although the current system for fund disbursement and student notification was functional, it required refinement.
“We added several improvements and established clear guidelines. One of the committee’s terms of reference is to standardise the nomenclature of the various charges universities apply to students.”
“The second term of reference assigned to the committee is to establish timelines for when NELFUND will disburse fees to universities.”
Alausa also emphasised that the goal is not to overhaul the existing system but to enhance it.
“The processes we have now are working, but we’re focused on making them better. The committee has three weeks to submit its report to me and the Ministry. In the following four weeks, we’ll finalise new guidelines on how this entire process will work for NELFUND and the universities. These finalised guidelines will be released to the universities and the public.”
He further stated that the final recommendations would be shared publicly once the committee submits its report.
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