Reps To Probe Alleged Unethical Practices In Student Loan Disbursement

The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the alleged unethical practices in the payment of student loans to ensure compliance with Student Loans Act, 2024.

Consequently, the House mandated its relevant committees to probe the alleged diversion, non-disclosure and mismanagement of student loan disbursements, as well as non-compliance with the Act, and report back within four week.

This was sequel to the adoption of a motion brought under matters of urgent national importance, moved by Hon. Aliyu Abdullahi Mustapha from Kaduna at plenary, on Wednesday.

Moving the motion, Mustapha recalled a recent report by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), alleging collusion between certain tertiary institutions and financial institutions to delay, divert, or conceal disbursement of student loans under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

The lawmaker said NOA and NELFUND had uncovered that some institutions received loan for disbursements but failed to notify beneficiaries or update financial records, which violated the NELFUND guidelines, raising concerns over transparency and accountability.

Mustapha noted that the Federal Ministry of Education had initiated a probe into alleged unauthorised deductions from student loans by some universities, describing the act as a gross violation of public trust and a breach of the Student Loans Act, 2024.

He expressed concern, “over reports of mismanagement and lack of proper verification, including instances where tertiary institutions upload inflated school fees on the NELFUND portal, cases of final-year students receiving loans after graduation and disbursements made to tertiary institutions even after students have fully paid their tuition fees to avoid delays.

The lawmaker was worried that, “violations of NELFUND Guidelines by some institutions may have denied thousands of students their rightful access to loans and undermined the credibility of the loan scheme.

“Further worried that without robust oversight and enforcement, such violations may continue unchecked, undermining public confidence in the student loan programme.”

Adopting the motion, the House urged NELFUND to implement advanced IT solutions to enhance verification and streamline processes within the system as well as report to relevant authorities, and sanction any institution found in violation of the act or guidelines.

It further mandated all tertiary institutions to immediately refund students who paid their tuition fees before their NELFUND loan disbursement.