The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has initiated a strict crackdown on tertiary institutions nationwide that are withholding critical financial information and refusing to issue refunds to students who are beneficiaries of the federal student loan scheme.
​The management of the Fund, led by Managing Director Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, warned that hiding disbursement data from students or demanding double payments while holding onto NELFUND funds is a severe violation of the initiative’s foundational guidelines and constitutes a criminal offense.
​The crackdown follows an intense probe revealing that several public tertiary institutions actively engaged in unethical practices. Investigations conducted in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Federal Ministry of Education exposed over 50 higher institutions that systematically inflated fees, initiated unauthorized hidden deductions, or withheld refunds from students who had already paid out-of-pocket prior to their loan approvals.
​Reports indicate that hidden deductions ranged anywhere from ₦3,500 to ₦30,000 per student. Cumulatively, these infractions across tens of thousands of applicants have ballooned into a multi-million-naira institutional scandal.
​Speaking to stakeholders on the matter, Sawyerr emphasized that NELFUND covers the entirety of statutory institutional charges directly to the schools to insulate students from additional burdens.
​”No school or institution should claim NELFUND paid for one thing but omitted another. Once we clear institutional fees, those students must have unhindered access to classes, libraries, examinations, and seminars,” Sawyerr stated. “We do not want students digging into their pockets for an extra naira when the government has already fully paid.”
​NELFUND confirmed that comprehensive forensic audits are being executed. While administrative sanctions including the suspension of institutional heads are being reviewed by respective governing councils, cases highlighting deep-rooted financial fraud and deliberate collusion with commercial banks will be immediately handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
To date, NELFUND has disbursed over ₦206 billion in institutional fees and upkeep allowances to support more than 1.16 million students across the country, as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. The agency is calling on student-led monitoring networks and civil society organizations to remain vigilant and report any secondary exploitation by school authorities.
