Student loan: No N71bn is missing, NELFUND insists
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, an intervention agency set up by the Federal Government, on Sunday denied that an estimated N71bn of student loans was stolen.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, made the clarification when he was featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Last week, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission announced that it has commenced a comprehensive investigation into the alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of student loans under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund.
The commission said its preliminary findings revealed that while the Federal Government released N100 billion for the scheme, only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving N71.2b unaccounted for.
Worried by the development, the National Association of Nigerian Students vowed to protest the alleged discrepancy.
However, the National Orientation Agency suspected that certain schools, conniving with some banks, were the reason for the delayed payments to students who qualified for loans so they could make money off the situation.
Speaking on the live television programme on Sunday, Sawyerr debunked the claim.
When teased if he has a ‘Ghana-must-go’ of the missing money hidden somewhere, the NELFUND boss bursts into laughter.
He said, “We are all looking for this so-called money. First of all, let me be very clear. No money has been stolen. The President, in his wisdom and well-intentioned programme, decided that he was going to set up the Nigeria Education Loan Fund.
“So the funds that we’ve been given is to bridge the gap for those who don’t have the money to be able to attain the education. No money is missing. No money has been stolen. There had been some issues with what happened at the phase of this where human intervention comes in.”
Sawyerr also confirmed meeting with the NOA Director-General, Lanre Issa-Oniru over the embarrassing development.
“So I meet with Mr. Oniru regularly but the conversation you’re referring to took place on the telephone. But let me go back and just continue to correct this misconception. No N71bn is missing. So let’s break it down. Let me tell you we’ve received not even N100bn. The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has received about N203bn.
“I’ll break it down for you – N10bn from the Office of the Minister of Finance through the Office of the Accountant General, N50bn from the EFCC’s proceeds of crime and N143bn from TETFund. So you can see already that the actual amount received is in excess of what’s even been said to have been received.
“Out of that, N54bn has been disbursed to date while N30bn and N24bn had gone to institutions and for upkeep respectively. So there’s a pocket money side to this. That’s N54bn disbursed already in the space of about 11 and a half months. It’s in the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
The NELFUND boss also clarified that there was no instance where any student received a loan directly from their initiative.
He also confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation to unravel the mystery behind the allegation of delayed payments and, in some cases, money not reaching the genuine beneficiaries.
“Let me correct a misconception there. There is no disbursement from the NELFUND account through the schools, to the students. The NELFUND money goes to the schools for their tuition or their institutional charges. The schools are supposed to give unfettered access to the students for classes.
“The schools do not disburse to the students, except in the case where the student has already paid their fees, in which case there’s been a double payment. So there’s a very careful meticulous investigation going on to try to understand where this is happening and how it’s happening.
“Some of the schools, as a result of this brouhaha, have started making those refunds available. But it’s not acceptable. Students should not be exploited in this way,” Sawyerr stated.
