The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has refuted claims that the Commission donated N50 billion to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, from its recovery account.
Several publication outfits reported that the EFCC donated the huge sum to the NELFUND.
However, in a statement signed by Dele Oyewale, Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, on Wednesday, the Commission mentioned that “the said fund was not a donation by the Commission but part of the recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the government.”
The Commission added that it is outside its jurisdiction “to determine where the government commits recovered proceeds of crime.”
The statement reads, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, wishes to clarify the reports in a section of the media today, August 14, 2024, purporting that the Commission donated N50 billion to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, from its recovery account.
“The said fund was not a donation by the Commission but part of the recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the government.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in furtherance of his social intervention policy for the most vulnerable segments of the population, decided in his wisdom to plough the money into funding the critically acclaimed student loan scheme.
“It is not the place of the Commission to determine where the government commits recovered proceeds of crime. But the student’s loan scheme is a salutary innovation that has the potential to reduce youth involvement in criminality.
“As the Commission’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyde, disclosed during a courtesy visit to the Commission by the NELFUND’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr on August 13, 2026, the EFCC will monitor the use of the funds to ensure accountability and the realisation of the objectives of the Scheme.”
