• Gets ultimatum from poly students to provide loan details
• Tags hoarding of disbursement information as criminal

Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed N54 billion to beneficiaries of the student loan scheme across the country, the Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, has disclosed.

However, the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has issued a five-day ultimatum to the NELFUND board to provide a detailed breakdown of fund disbursement.

This, perhaps, moved the MD to tag hoarding information about the loan from the beneficiaries as a crime. Sawyerr, who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Students Loans, yesterday, explained that since the scheme commenced the NELFUND had received about N203 billion from the Federal Government through various channels, including the Office of the Accountant General, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which provided recovered proceeds of crime as directed by President Bola Tinubu.

He clarified that the amount represents disbursements to 303 government-owned institutions and 293,000 students nationwide.
The MD, who expressed dismay over a recent statement by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC), alleging discrepancies in the disbursement of the student loan, said though the anti-graft agency had recanted, its claim did severe damage to the scheme.

He clarified that out of the N54 billion disbursed so far, N30 billion was paid directly to the 303 institutions to cover students’ fees, while N24 billion was disbursed as stipends or pocket money to the student beneficiaries.

The House Committee had summoned the agency to provide explanations on the administration and disbursement of the loan.On the funds so far received, he said NELFUND initially received N10 billion from the Office of the Accountant General as directed by the Minister of Finance and N71 billion from TETFund.

NAPS made the demand in a communiqué yesterday signed by its President, EshiofuneOghayan, and Senate President, Oyewumi Ayomide.
It threatened to mobilise for protests nationwide should NELFUND fail to provide the breakdown of how polytechnics received funds.

The student loan scheme came under intense scrutiny following allegations by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) that some institutions, in collaboration with banks, were making fraudulent deductions from student loan disbursements.

Last week, ICPC said its preliminary probe revealed that while NELFUND released N100 billion as student loans, only N71 billion was accounted for.

SAWYERR pinned the tag yesterday, in Abuja, during an interview with journalists on the third day stakeholders’ engagement session/workshop on NELFUND system automation and loan application processes.

The third day of the engagement was for the provosts and other officials of colleges of education in the country.Speaking on the challenges involved in accessing the loan by the students, Sawyerr noted that “management of higher institutions must realise that they must be proactive in disbursing money to the beneficiaries” once they are paid by NELFUND.

He said, “The issues at hand lie with the management. Students should not wait one week, one month or one year before they are told that they can attend classes. Students must not be charged a naira extra because the commitment on NELFUND is to pay all the institutional charges.” 

[Guardian]