Akintunde Sawyerr, managing director of the Nigerian
Education Loan Fund (NELFund), has spoken on the misappropriation claims
swirling around the scheme.
There have been reports of mismanagement of funds earmarked
for disbursement to students.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission (ICPC) commenced an investigation into alleged discrepancies in the
disbursement of the loan.
A report had also claimed that 51 tertiary institutions were
involved in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the scheme.
Reacting, NELFund said the reports are “unverified,
context-free, and inflammatory”.
The organisation said the allegations are “false, grossly
irresponsible, and damaging” to the integrity of the scheme.
In an interview with TVC on Saturday, Sawyerr said the body
disbursed N54 billion to 303 institutions.
He said of the sum, N24 billion went directly to students’
bank accounts.
The NELFund boss said 293,000 students have benefitted from
the fund.
Sawyerr also clarified that there were cases where
institutions withheld students’ fees alongside funds received from NELFund.
“The funds go to the institutions. The institutions get hold
of the funds from NELFund. The important thing for us is that students have
access,” he said.
“In certain cases, the institutions may be asking the
students to be paying extra charges. I think that is where the allegation lies.
“The second is that, if students that have already paid
their fees or someone paid on their behalf, it means the institution has money
from NELFund for that student and money from that student.
“So the student is entitled to a refund. There may be some
issues around getting refunds for students. They must get their refunds.
“We have disbursed a total of N54 billion to the
institutions: N30 billion of those funds have gone into institutional charges,
and N24 billion have gone directly to students’ bank accounts, benefiting
293,000 students and 303 institutions.”
Sawyerr said the NELFund website is seamless, while advising
applicants to report any challenges.
“As far as we are concerned, our site is simple and easy to
access,” he added.
“However, if people are struggling to access the website,
they can contact us.
“Generally, today, we have had 512,000 applications. And we
are getting up to 1,800 and 2,500 applications a day.”
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