N71.2bn in N100bn Student Loan Fund Diverted — ICPC Accuses NELFUND and Universities

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has revealed that N71.2 billion of the student loans fund is diverted, as only N28.8 billion was disbursed in various tertiary institutions out of the released N100 billion.

Demola Bakare, the spokesman at ICPC made this known on Thursday, during a media chat in Abuja, when he said that its preliminary investigations have uncovered that not less than N71.2 billion have been diverted by the management of different universities who had taken custody of funds.

Besides, Bakare divulged that senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as the chief executive officer and executive director of NELFUND were invited to provide documentation and explanations relevant to the case.

Lanre Issa-Onilu, director-general of the National Orientation Agency, had earlier raised the alarm that the universities were trying to sabotage the federal government on the students’ loan scheme.

Issa-Onilu purported that no fewer than 51 tertiary institutions were implicated in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFUND scheme, while calling on the anti-graft agencies to unravel the fraud and halt it.

The ICPC spokesman giving an update on the issue, explained that the commission had since swung into action following the alarm, adding that those found culpable would be brought to book.

“The commission confirmed that its chairman’s special task force immediately swung into action upon receiving the report. Letters of investigation and invitations were dispatched to key stakeholders, including the director-general of the budget office, the accountant general of the federation, and senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“Additionally, the chief executive officer and executive director of NELFUND were invited to provide documentation and explanations relevant to the case. Preliminary findings revealed a significant gap in the financial records of the disbursement process. While the Federal Government reportedly released N100 billion for the scheme, only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving an unaccounted sum of N71.2 billion,” Bakare said.

While giving the breakdown of the NELFUND’s records, the ICPC spokesman said the commission’s strength of investigation revealed that the total money received by NELFUND as of March 19, 2024, was N203.8 billion.

“The breakdown showed that N10 billion was an allocation from the federation allocation account committee, N50 billion was from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, N71.9 billion was from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, while another N71.9 billion was also from the same Tertiary Education Trust Fund,” Bakare explained.

Moreover, Bakare explained that responses received by the commission were critically analysed, and interviews were conducted with the concerned individuals.

However, he highlighted that the commission found that the total amount disbursed to institutions from inception to date is over N44. 2 billion, while a total of 299 institutions have benefited from the funds released.