Victoria Mbangwa
As public concern deepens over an alleged N71.2 billion gap in Nigeria’s student loan scheme, the Minister of Education has come out swinging insisting no fraud occurred, just delays.
Amid mounting pressure and swirling controversy over the disbursement of student loans, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on Wednesday declared that no funds have been stolen from the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Speaking at the end of a closed-door meeting with Vice Chancellors, top officials from the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, and the Federal Ministry of Education, Alausa dismissed the fraud narrative as inaccurate.
“Let me start by saying that there is no fraud in NELFUND.” Alausa said. “ICPC reported that the information was not correct. There is no fraud in NELFUND; what we have are issues that have to do with the timeline.”
This response comes on the heels of an announcement by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which said it had launched an investigation into discrepancies in loan disbursements. The anti-graft agency’s preliminary findings revealed that only N28.8 billion of the N100 billion released for the scheme had reached students raising alarms over the N71.2 billion difference.
The allegations have ignited student unrest. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has threatened to take to the streets in protest, demanding clarity and accountability.
In addition, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) accused some institutions and banks of deliberately stalling disbursements to exploit the process for profit. Media reports also surfaced, alleging that unauthorized deductions of between N3,500 and N30,000 were being taken from students’ loan-backed tuition payments.
In response to the uproar, ICPC spokesperson Demola Bakare confirmed that a Special Task Force had been deployed to probe the claims. “The Commission is determined to uncover any foul play,” he said.
While the Education Ministry maintains that no fraud has occurred, questions remain over how such large-scale delays and deductions could go unchecked. For many students, the problem isn’t just about miscommunication it’s about survival in a system that promised help but may be failing to deliver.
