The Minister of Education denies fraud in the student loan scheme, amid the investigation

Minister of Education, Dr. Tupi Alausa, has denied fraud claims in Nigerian education loan funds (Nelfund), which stated that the accusations circulating in the media were baseless.

Speaking on Wednesday at a high -level meeting with the Chancellor Representative, officials from the National University Commission (NUC), Nigerian education loan funds, and the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Alausa stressed that the problem currently under supervision is related to procedural schedules, not financial violations.

“Let me start by saying there is no fraud in Nelfund,” the Minister stressed. “ICPC reports that the information is not true. What we have is a problem related to the time line.”

His statement came in response to recent statements by the Independent Corruption Practice and other related violation commissions (ICPC), which announced that it had launched a full scale investigation on the alleged differences in the disbursement of student loan.

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According to ICPC, the initial investigation indicated that although the federal government allocated the N100 billion for student loan schemes, only the N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving the gap N71.2 billion which was still not counted.

This development triggered concerns among stakeholders, especially the National Nigerian Student Association (NANS), which had threatened mass protests if the difference was not handled transparently.

In addition, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) accused several academic institutions, in collusion with certain banks, deliberately postponed payments to students who qualified requirements to exploit the system for financial benefits.

There are also media reports that accuse unauthorized reduction, ranging from N3,500 to N30,000, from the disbursement of student loans by several institutions.

ICPC, through his spokesman Demola Bakare, confirmed last Thursday that they had formed a special task force to investigate accusations as soon as they were received.

While the investigation is ongoing, the clarification of the Minister of Education aims to calm the public’s attention and convince the stakeholders that the complete test is applied to protect the integrity of student loan programs.

Alausa repeats the government’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and timely support from Nigerian students who need financial assistance.

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