The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has declared that no fraudulent activity was uncovered in the management of the ₦71 billion student loan scheme, which was allocated by the Federal Government.
Alausa dismissed reports of mismanagement raised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other agencies, insisting that the student loan scheme has been transparently managed, with no indication of financial irregularities.
The minister made this known after a closed-door meeting with university vice-chancellors, officials of the National Universities Commission, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), and the Federal Ministry of Education.
“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 that have to do with the timeline,” he said.
A few days ago, the ICPC announced that it had commenced a comprehensive investigation into alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of student loans under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
Initial findings by the commission suggested that although the Federal Government released ₦100 billion for the scheme, only ₦28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving ₦71.2 billion unaccounted for.
In reaction to the development, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) threatened mass protests, citing a breach of trust and a failure to deliver on a critical promise to Nigerian youth.
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) also alleged collusion between some tertiary institutions and banks to delay payments to eligible students in order to profit from the situation.
These allegations followed media reports of unauthorised deductions ranging from ₦3,500 to ₦30,000 from student loan disbursements.
In a statement issued last week by ICPC spokesperson Demola Bakare, the commission said its Special Task Force launched the probe after receiving the allegations.
