The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has refuted
allegations of misappropriation and mismanagement of student loan funds.
In a statement on
Thursday, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, NELFund’s director of strategic
communications, said some media reports are circulating “unverified,
context-free, and inflammatory” claims suggesting that the fund mismanaged student
loan monies.
It said these allegations are “false, grossly irresponsible,
and damaging” to the integrity of the scheme.
TheCable earlier reported that the Independent Corrupt
Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) commenced an
investigation into alleged discrepancies in the disbursement of student loan
funds.
A report had claimed that 51 tertiary institutions were
involved in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFund scheme.
The ICPC said that of
the N100 billion released by the federal government reportedly for the student
loan scheme, only N28.8 billion had been disbursed to students as of the time
of the report, leaving about N71.2 billion unaccounted for.
It noted that a special task force within the ICPC has
issued letters of investigation and invited key stakeholders, including the
director general of the budget office, the accountant general of the
federation, and officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Akintunde Sawyerr, NELFund’s managing director, has also
been invited to provide relevant documentation.
More to follow…
