The management of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) has denied involvement in the unauthorised deduction of funds from students’ loans disbursed through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
The NELFUND scheme, introduced on April 3, 2024, by President Bola Tinubu, was designed to assist students in public tertiary institutions.
However, over 51 universities across Nigeria have recently been accused of exploiting the scheme by making unauthorised deductions from the loan amounts.
FUOYE was named among these institutions, with reports claiming that it deducted between ₦3,500 and ₦30,000 from students’ fees after receiving government funds.
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and NELFUND raised concerns about the practice, which was allegedly carried out without students’ consent, with institutions failing to provide records of these deductions.
Responding to the allegations, FUOYE’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Foluso Ogunmodede, dismissed the claims as untrue and an attempt to damage the university’s reputation.
Ogunmodede clarified that the university had not made any unauthorised deductions and that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had not flagged any illegal transactions linked to FUOYE.
He added that all payments at the university undergo a rigorous reconciliation process, and no fee structure of ₦ 124,000 had been set, as alleged.
The university has committed to promptly handling any refund requests once payments are confirmed.
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