The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has responded to growing concerns about the alleged disappearance of N71.2 billion intended for student loans, firmly stating that no funds are missing.
Akintunde Sawyerr, the Managing Director of NELFUND, made this known during a live interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday.
His remarks followed an announcement by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which had launched an investigation into discrepancies in the disbursement of student loans.
According to the ICPC, the Federal Government released N100 billion for the loan programme, but only N28.8 billion had been distributed to students, raising suspicions about the remaining N71.2 billion.
This revelation triggered outrage among the public and led to calls for accountability. The National Association of Nigerian Students even threatened to stage protests.
In his response, Sawyerr was quick to shut down the claims. “No money has been stolen,” he said firmly. He also explained that the actual amount received by NELFUND was more than the reported N100 billion. “We’ve received about N203 billion,” he said.
He provided a breakdown: N10 billion came from the Ministry of Finance via the Office of the Accountant General, N50 billion from EFCC proceeds of crime, and N143 billion from TETFund.
He added that so far, N54 billion had already been disbursed — N30 billion to institutions for tuition and N24 billion for student upkeep, describing this as the “pocket money” component. All funds, he noted, are held with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Sawyerr noted that the fund does not give loans directly to students. Instead, payments are made to schools to cover tuition. In some cases, if a student had already paid their fees, refunds were expected. However, he admitted that there have been instances where this process was abused.
“There is no disbursement from the NELFUND account through the schools, to the students,” Sawyerr clarified. “The NELFUND money goes to the schools for their tuition or institutional charges. The schools are supposed to give unfettered access to the students for classes.”
Sawyerr also confirmed that some schools, possibly in collaboration with banks, were slowing down the disbursement process for their own gain. He noted that certain institutions had already started refunding wrongly collected payments.
To address these concerns, NELFUND is working closely with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other relevant bodies to uncover where the issues lie. He assured that investigations are ongoing and that all responsible parties would be held accountable.
“We are all looking for this so-called money,” he said with a laugh, brushing aside suggestions of personal wrongdoing. “No money is missing. No money has been stolen.”
