One of Nigeria’s key anti-graft monitors, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on Thursday, disclosed that only a mere N28.8 billion was disbursed to students in various tertiary institutions instead of N100 billion released to the schools.
ICPC revealed that its preliminary findings uncovered that about N71.2 billion has been diverted by the management of different universities that had taken custody of funds.
The spokesman of the commission, Demola Bakare, told journalists in Abuja that key stakeholders, including the Director-General of the Budget Office and the Accountant-General of the Federation, have been invited.
Bakare also disclosed that senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of NELFUND were invited to provide documentation and explanations relevant to the case.
Daily Trust reports that the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Lanre Issa-Onilu, had two weeks raised the alarm that the universities were trying to sabotage the Tinubu-led government on the students’ loan scheme.
Issa-Onilu alleged that no fewer than 51 tertiary institutions were implicated in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFUND scheme, while calling on the anti-graft agencies to unravel the fraud and halt it.
Similarly, reports from the media also alleged that these institutions were said to have made unauthorized deductions ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from each student’s institutional fees received through the loan fund.
Giving an update on the issue, the ICPC spokesman explained that the commission had swung into action following the alarm, adding that those found culpable would be brought to book.
Bakare said, “The Commission confirmed that its Chairman’s Special Task Force immediately swung into action upon receiving the report.
“Letters of investigation and invitations were dispatched to key stakeholders, including the Director-General of the Budget Office, the Accountant General of the Federation, and senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Additionally, the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of NELFUND were invited to provide documentation and explanations relevant to the case.
“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.”
While giving the breakdown of the NELFUND’s records, Bakare said the ICPC’s strength of investigation revealed that the total money received by NELFUND as of March 19, 2024, was N203.8 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, N71.9B was from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, while another N71.9 billion was also from the same Tertiary Education Trust Fund,” the ICPC official told journalists.
According to him, responses received by the commission were critically analyzed, and interviews were conducted with the concerned individuals.
He noted that the ICPC, however, found that the total amount disbursed to institutions from inception to date is about N44,200,933,649.00, while a total of 299 institutions have benefited from the funds released.
“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.
“The ICPC confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies has been established in the administration of the student loan scheme and announced that its investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients.”
He said the commission would, from time to time, provide further updates as the investigation progresses.
“Comprehensive investigations into the alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of students’ loans under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have commenced,” he stated.
