Victor EzejaThe Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has withdrawn its previous claim that there were discrepancies in the way student loans from the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) were disbursed.
This came some hours after the commission issued a statement that implied that discrepancies were already established in the student loan disbursements.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelICPC’s Director of Public Enlightenment and Education, Demola Bakare, announced the reversal in a revised statement on Thursday.
According to the commission, preliminary findings revealed significant gaps in the student loan scheme’s financial records.
According to the ICPC findings, the federal government released N100 billion, but only N28.8 billion of the amount was disbursed to students, leaving N71.2 billion unaccounted for.
“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,” the version of the earlier statement stated.
However, in the revised statement issued on Thursday, the ICPC said that “Unintentionally, the word ‘NOT’ was missing in the second to the last paragraph of our earlier press release in respect of an ongoing investigation regarding the Student Loan Scheme.”
READ ALSO: Student Loan: ₦108bn Given To 600 Beneficiaries – Tinubu
Bakare added that “The missing word created an erroneous impression that the alleged discrepancies or diversion has been established.
“We admit that this is not the case, indeed, we accept that the same part of the sentence also contradicts the whole paragraph.
“The paragraph ought to read: ‘The ICPC confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies has NOT 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.”
The ICPC spokesperson explained that the Commission has only established the total amount of funds received and disbursed so far by NELFUND.
He said the issue of discrepancies and diversion of funds is yet to be established at this stage, adding that the next phase of the investigation would “move into the receiving institutions and persons before any reasonable deductions could be made.”
While reiterating that the commission neither engages in media trials nor usurps the power of the judiciary to indict persons or organisations, he urged the general public to exercise patience, assuring that thorough investigations are being conducted into the matter.
READ ALSO: Tambuwal Highlights Benefits Of New Student Loan Act, Need For Extending 2023 Budget Implementation
Bakare encouraged individuals with valuable information to reach out to the Commission through info@icpc.gov.ng
“The earlier error, though already corrected on our Website, is regretted. Our investigations are still ongoing, and there are no indictments yet,” the statement added.
ICPC Investigations Student Loan
In the earlier statement, the Commission stated that its investigation followed a media report which alleged that no fewer than 51 tertiary institutions were implicated in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFUND scheme.
“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.
“Open source revealed significant gaps in the financial disbursement process, alleging that while 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.”
It said the Commission’s Special Task Force Chairman swung into action immediately after 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.
READ ALSO: Nigerian Govt Should Convert N50bn Student Loan To Grants – ASUU President
The Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of NELFUND were invited to provide documentation and explanations relevant to the case, and the responses received from concerned individuals were critically analyzed.
ICPC explained that its findings revealed that the total money received by NELFUND as of 19 March 2024 was N203.8 billion. ““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,” it stated.
However, it found that the total amount disbursed to 299 institutions from the beginning to date is about N44.2 billion.
“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.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
