Akintunde Sawyerr, managing director of Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund), has spoken on recent allegations of fund mismanagement within the student loan scheme.
Gatekeepers News reports that there have been reports of mismanagement of funds earmarked for disbursement to students, prompting an investigation by Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Describing the allegations as “unverified, misleading, and harmful,” NELFund dismissed the claims as baseless and damaging to the reputation of the programme.
Speaking during an interview with TVC, Sawyerr clarified that NELFund has disbursed a total of N54 billion across 303 tertiary institutions, out of which N24 billion was transferred directly into the bank accounts of students.
Sawyerr noted that 293,000 students have benefitted from the scheme so far, adding that there were cases where institutions withheld students’ fees alongside funds received from NELFund.
He said, “The funds go to the institutions. The institutions get hold of the funds from NELFund. The important thing for us is that students have access.”
“In certain cases, the institutions may be asking the students to be paying extra charges. I think that is where the allegation lies.”
“The second is that, if students that have already paid their fees or someone paid on their behalf, it means the institution has money from NELFund for that student and money from that student.”
“So the student is entitled to a refund. There may be some issues around getting refunds for students. They must get their refunds.”
“We have disbursed a total of N54 billion to the institutions: N30 billion of those funds have gone into institutional charges, and N24 billion have gone directly to students’ bank accounts, benefiting 293,000 students and 303 institutions.”
Addressing concerns over accessibility of the loan application portal, Sawyerr said NELFund website is seamless and urged applicants to report any challenges.
He said, “As far as we are concerned, our site is simple and easy to access. However, if people are struggling to access the website, they can contact us.”
“Generally, today, we have had 512,000 applications. And we are getting up to 1,800 and 2,500 applications a day.”
