ICPC Probes N159.6bn Unaccounted Student Loan

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has commenced a probe of 51 tertiary institutions across Nigeria after its investigation indicated that N159.6 billion of the  N203.8 billion student loans released under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) were unaccounted for.

The ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare said investigation revealed that the total money received by NELFUND as of March 19, 2024, was N203.8 billion.

ICPC, however, found that the total amount disbursed to institutions from inception to date is about N44,200,933,649.00, while a total of 299 institutions have benefited from the funds released out of the total of N203.8 billion, leaving the balance of N159.6billion.

According to him, “The breakdown showed that N10 Billion was an allocation from the Federation Allocation Account Committee, N50 billion was from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, N71.9B was from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, while another N71.9 billion was also from the same Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

“To date, the total amount disbursed to 299 beneficiary institutions stands at approximately N44.2 billion, with 293,178 students having benefited from the fund.”

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ICPC investigation also revealed that 51 tertiary institutions were involved in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFUND scheme.

According to Bakare, these institutions were alleged to have made unauthorized deductions ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from each student’s institutional fees received through the loan fund.

“Preliminary findings revealed a significant gap in the financial records of the disbursement process. While the Federal Government reportedly released N100 billion for the scheme, only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving an unaccounted sum of N71.2 billion,” Bakare said.

Following all these discrepancies, the commission confirmed that its chairman’s special task force immediately swung into action upon receiving the report and letters of investigation and invitations were dispatched to key stakeholders, including the Director General of the Budget Office, the Accountant General of the Federation, and senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

ICPC added that the chief executive officer and executive director of NELFUND were invited to provide documentation and explanations relevant to the case. The responses received were critically analyzed, and interviews were conducted with the concerned individuals.

The ICPC confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies has been established in the administration of the student loan scheme and announced that its investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients.