Students’ loan: No fraud uncovered in NELFUND –Minister

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, says no fraud has been uncovered in the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

This is even as he asked vice chancellors of federal universities in the country to always allow students sit their examinations even when they are yet to pay their fees.

Dr Alausa made the announcement in Abuja on Wednesday after a closed door meeting with vice-chancellors of universities, NELFUND management, officials of the National Universities Commission, in Abuja

He said, “We’re working on a better process, let every student continue to attend their classes and please let them do their exams as well.”

Alausa also described the statement put up by the Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission and other related offences as incorrect.

“Let me start by saying that there is no fraud in NELFUND. The 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.

The ICPC had said it commenced a comprehensive investigation into alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of student loans under NELFUND

Daily Trust reports that 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 N71.2bn unaccounted for. The commission however later issued a rebuttal.

The minister also announced the creation of a high-level committee to streamline and standardise fee payment processes across the country’s tertiary institutions.

This is a bid to improve the financial operations between Nigerian universities and NELFUND.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Alausa emphasised that while universities had been receiving funds on time, there was a critical need to improve the timelines and processes involved in the disbursement and notification systems.

“The current processes are working, but we are working to better the world we have now. The aim is to serve both NELFUND and our citizens more efficiently, and align with the broader agenda of the current administration,” he said.

He added that a major decision made during the meeting was the formation of a committee with representatives from NELFUND, the Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and key university officials.

He said the committee would be tasked with standardisation of fee nomenclature.

According to him, to ensure transparency, all universities will adopt uniform terminology for student fees, charges, though the amounts may vary by institution.

“The committee will come up with the timeline on when NELFUND will pay the fees and the timeline university will notify students, determine and publish standard timelines for,” he said.

When asked why there why there are discrepancies between the student’s fees and what NELFUND pays, Alausa explained that the difference was in the service charge, which varies from institutions.

“The committee will come up with clear nomenclature on the charges and all the problems of differences in school fees payment and the actual payment by NELFUND will be eliminated.

“Universities will disclose service charges upfront to avoid confusion over discrepancies in refunded amounts,” he said.

Meanwhile, the committee has been given three weeks to submit its report, after which the finalised guidelines will be made public.