NELFUND under fire over loans to ex-students

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Some graduates from public tertiary institutions have raised concerns over the delayed disbursement of student loans, revealing that funds were sent to their schools months after they had already graduated.

They also continue to receive N20,000 monthly upkeep stipends despite no longer being students.

In separate interviews with The PUNCH, the affected individuals explained that while they had applied for the Nigeria Education Loan Fund before graduating, disbursements were delayed, forcing them to seek alternative means to pay their fees.

To their surprise, the loans were eventually paid to their institutions long after they had settled the fees themselves and left school.

The student loan scheme has recently come under scrutiny after the National Orientation Agency alleged that some institutions were profiting illegally by making fraudulent deductions from the loans disbursed.

In addition, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has launched a comprehensive investigation into alleged irregularities in the loan process.

According to preliminary findings by the ICPC, while NELFUND released N100bn loan, only N28.8bn actually got to applicants—leaving a staggering N71.2bn unaccounted for.

The development has drawn the ire of the National Association of Nigerian Students, which has vowed to protest what it described as a major discrepancy in the handling of the loan funds.

The NOA also alleged that certain institutions, in collusion with some banks, deliberately delayed payments to qualified students in order to exploit the situation financially.

This followed media reports that some institutions made unauthorised deductions ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from tuition fees paid through the loan scheme.