The Independent Corruption and Other Related Crime Commission (ICPC) has begun a comprehensive investigation into alleged differences around the differences in student loans paid by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (Nelfund).
Commission spokesman Demola Bakare revealed this in a statement Thursday, May 1, 2025, revealing that only 28.8 billion guilds were paid to students in various higher education institutions, rather than the 100 billion guilds released to schools.
According to the statement, key stakeholders including the Director-General of the Budget Office and federal accountants were invited.
Bakare also revealed that senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the CEO and executive director of Nelfund were invited to provide documents and explanations related to the case.
The operation claimed in a recent media report that no less than 51 tertiary institutions were involved in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the Nelfund program.
These institutions have allegedly ranged from unauthorized deductions for institutional fees received by each student through the loan fund from 3,500 to N30,000.
Preliminary findings show that there is a large gap in financial records in the payment process. The federal government reportedly issued 100 billion guilds for the program, but paid only 28.8 billion guilds to students and the remaining guilds of 71.2 billion guilds.
The Committee confirmed that its Chair Task Force took action immediately upon receipt of the report. The investigation letter and invitation letter have been sent to key stakeholders, including the Director General of the Budget Office, the Federal Accounting General and senior officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In addition, Nelfund’s CEO and Executive Director are invited to provide documentation and explanations related to the case. According to the committee, the responses received were rigorously analyzed and interviewed with the individuals involved.
According to ICPC, the strength of its investigation shows that as of March 19, 2024, Nelfund received a total of 203.8 billion guilds.
“The breakdown shows that 10 billion guilds is the allocation of the Federal Allocation Accounts Commission, n71.9B comes from the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, from the Third Level Education Trust Fund, and another 71.9 billion is also from the same Third Level Education Trust Fund.”
However, ICPC found that the total amount paid to institutions to date is approximately N44,200,933,649.00, while a total of 299 institutions benefited from the funds released.
To date, the total amount paid to 299 beneficiary institutions is approximately 44.2 billion guilds, of which 293,178 students benefit from the fund.
ICPC confirmed that significant cases of disparity have been established in the management of student loan programs and announced that its investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients.
“As the investigation progresses, further updates will be provided,” the statement added.
