Dr. Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, said on Wednesday that there was no evidence of fraud in the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Alausa made this announcement following a meeting with vice chancellors, officials from the National Universities Commission, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, and the Federal Ministry of Education.
Alausa also labelled the statement put out by the Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission and other connected charges as wrong.
“Let me start by saying that there is no fraud in NELFUND. ICPC reported that the information was not correct. There is no fraud in NELFUND; what we have are issues that have to do with the timeline.”
Recently, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it commenced a comprehensive investigation into alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of student loans under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund.
According to the commission’s early findings, the federal government provided N100 billion for the scheme, but only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving N71.2 billion unaccounted for.
Worried by the development, the National Association of Nigerian Students has pledged to protest the alleged discrepancy.
The National Orientation Agency had charged that certain schools, conspiring with some banks, delayed payments to students who qualified for loans so they could earn money off the situation.
This followed a media report alleging that some institutions deducted unauthorised fees ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from students’ loan fund payments.
In a statement issued last Thursday by ICPC spokesperson Demola Bakare, the commission stated that upon receiving the allegations, its Special Task Force immediately launched investigations.
