ICPC Probes Schools as Only ₦44.2bn Out of ₦203.8bn Student Loan Fund Disbursed

Only ₦44.2 billion out of ₦203.8 billion earmarked for student loans has been disbursed, the ICPC has revealed, citing significant discrepancies in the administration of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Demola Bakare, the Commission’s spokesperson, on Thursday.

According to the statement, the Commission confirmed it had launched a comprehensive investigation into the disbursement process following media reports that 51 tertiary institutions were implicated in unauthorised deductions and exploitation of students.

The ICPC noted that some institutions were allegedly deducting between ₦3,500 and ₦30,000 from students’ institutional fees funded through the NELFUND scheme.

The Commission stated that preliminary findings revealed that, although the Federal Government had allocated ₦100 billion for the programme, only ₦28.8 billion was initially disbursed, raising concerns over the whereabouts of the remaining ₦71.2 billion.

However, further investigation by the ICPC revealed that as of March 19, 2023, NELFUND had received a total of ₦203.8 billion.

“The breakdown showed that ₦10 billion was from the Federation Allocation Account Committee (FAAC), ₦50 billion came from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ₦71.9 billion was from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), and another ₦71.9 billion was also from TETFund,” the Commission said.

Of this amount, only ₦44.2 billion has been disbursed to date, benefiting 293,178 students across 299 tertiary institutions.

“A clear case of discrepancies has been established in the administration of the student loan scheme,” the statement read.

The Commission confirmed that its Chairman’s Special Task Force had dispatched letters of investigation to several stakeholders, including the Director-General of the Budget Office, the Accountant-General of the Federation, and senior officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria. It also invited the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of NELFUND to provide documentation.

“The responses received were critically analysed, and interviews were conducted with the concerned individuals,” the ICPC added.

It stated that the probe has now been expanded to cover beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients to determine the full extent of the anomalies.

The statement further stated that further updates will be provided as the investigation progresses.