To optimize the disbursement process of the National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) student loan scheme, an 11-member committee has been constituted by key stakeholders in the education sector.
This action is a direct response to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC) recent clarification concerning their investigation into the disbursement procedures.
Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa made this known while addressing newsmen after a meeting with vice chancellors, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, and NELFUND’s Managing Director, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, at the TETFund office in Abuja on Wednesday.
On the now retracted misappropriation allegations against NELFUND, Alausa said, “There is no fraud in NELFUND; the ICPC boss who made those allegations has come out to retract them. What we have is a process issue related to the timeline for disbursement of funds.”
The minister, who said the process in place is working fine, added that there is always room for improvement.
He said: “The current processes that NELFUND has in place and the processes our universities have implemented to receive funds, notify students, and facilitate refunds for those who have paid work well from both ends.
“However, there is room for improvement, and that is what we discussed this morning. How can we improve this process to better serve Nigeria and its citizens, and how can it help achieve the renewed agenda of President Bola Tinubu?
“We have set up an 11-member committee that includes the Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors in Nigerian Universities, Prof. Sagir Adamu Abbas, along with two other vice-chancellors, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, the Director of Defence Education, the Director of Polytechnic Education, and the Director of Colleges of Education.
“The committee also includes NELFUND’s Managing Director, its Director of Operations, and its Director of Monetary Evaluation, as well as the Executive Secretary of NUC, who will chair the committee.
“It will standardise the nomenclature of various fees charged by universities, as students do not pay tuition fees but other charges apply.
“It will establish timelines for NELFUND’s fee payments to universities, university notifications to students, and refunds to students who have already paid their fees. The committee is empowered to make any other recommendations it considers beneficial.”
Alausa said the committee has three weeks to submit its report, after which his ministry will finalise a new guideline within the next four weeks and release it to universities and the public.
On the issue of low student uptake of the loan in the South-East, the minister said there has been an improvement.
“We now have over 500 students enjoying it. There has been ongoing advocacy in the South-East, encouraging people to embrace it, and more advocacy efforts will continue there.”
Persecondnews recalls that on May 1, ICPC had reported uncovering N71.2 billion missing from a N100 billion student loan fund, stating that only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students.
However, on May 2, the Commission issued a correction to its earlier statement, clarifying that a clear case of discrepancies had not been established in the administration of the student loan scheme.
Mr. Demola Bakare, the spokesman for the commission said: “The ICPC’s investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients to determine if any discrepancies exist.
“So far, the Commission has only established the total amount of funds received and disbursed by NELFUND, and no evidence of diversion or discrepancies has been found.”
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