The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is probing 51 tertiary institutions across Nigeria over N159.6 billion released under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which were unaccounted for.
Demola Bakare, the ICPC Spokesperson, said the investigation revealed that the total money received by NELFUND as of March 19, 2024, was N203.8 billion. However, the total amount disbursed to institutions from inception to date is about N44,200,933,649.00. Out of the total of N203.8 billion, 299 institutions have benefited from the funds released, leaving the balance of N159.6 billion unaccounted for.
ICPC investigation also revealed that 51 tertiary institutions were involved in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFUND scheme.
“These institutions were alleged to have made unauthorized deductions ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from each student’s institutional fees received through the loan fund.
Preliminary findings revealed a significant gap in the financial records of the disbursement process. While the Federal Government reportedly released N100 billion for the scheme, only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving an unaccounted sum of N71.2 billion.
“The breakdown showed that N10 Billion was an allocation from the Federation Allocation Account Committee, N50 billion was from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, N71.9 billion was from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, while another N71.9 billion was also from the same Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
“To date, the total amount disbursed to 299 beneficiary institutions stands at approximately N44.2 billion, with 293,178 students having benefited from the fund,” he said.
The Chairman’s Special Task Force immediately swung into action upon receiving the report and letters of investigation, and invitations were sent to affected persons including the Director General of the Budget Office, the Accountant General of the Federation, and senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The anti-graft agency added that the chief executive officer and executive director of NELFUND were invited to provide documentation and explanations relevant to the case, adding that responses received were critically analyzed, and interviews were conducted with the concerned individuals.
The ICPC confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies has been established in the administration of the student loan scheme and pointed out that the investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients.
