By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) has denied claims of mismanagement in disbursing student loan funds.

This development comes after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it was investigating alleged corruption in the disbursement of the funds.

In a statement by the fund’s Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, NELFund said ICPC’s comment was taken out of context.

“These reports, which suggest misappropriation and mismanagement of funds, are entirely false, grossly irresponsible, and deeply damaging to the integrity of an institution established to deliver financial hope to millions of Nigerians,” Mr Oluwatuyi said.

“All institutional fees are paid directly to verified institutions, while upkeep allowances go into the verified bank accounts of eligible students,” she said.

“The reports circulating in the public space are based on outdated figures and previous interventions that predate our operations.”

Equally, the ICPC has clarified its earlier statement on the student loan.

The institution’s spokesman, Mr Demola Bakare, said the agency’s move to investigate the disbursement of the funds was due to claims that 51 schools were involved in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFund scheme.

“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 agency’s statement partly read.

In an update, Mr Bakare clarified 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. The missing word created an erroneous impression that the alleged discrepancies or diversion had been established.

“We admit that this is not the case, indeed, we accept that the same part of the sentence also contradicted 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.’

“For avoidance of doubt, the commission has only established the total amount of funds received and disbursed so far by NELFUND. The impression of diversion and the issue of discrepancies do not exist at this stage; the investigation would have to move into the receiving institutions and persons before any reasonable deductions could be made.”

It was claimed that out of the N100 billion approved for disbursement, about N71.2 billion was unaccounted for, prompting an investigation by the ICPC.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has clarified that it has not affirmed claims that about N71.2 billion of the N100 billion disbursed as student loans under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme were unaccounted for.

Recall that there were reports that no fewer than 51 tertiary institutions were implicated in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFUND scheme.

The schools were accused of making unauthorized deductions ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from each student’s institutional fees received through the loan fund.

The ICPC had commenced a probe into the matter and in a statement on Thursday, it said investigation revealed that the total money received by NELFUND as of March 19, 2024, was N203.8 billion, with N44.2 billion disbursed to 299 institutions, covering 293,178 students.

In the statement, ICPC said it “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.”

Some hours later, after the revelations raised dust, the agency clarified that it made an error in the statement, noting that, “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 general public is urged to exercise patience as thorough investigations require time and ample resources,” the new statement signed by its spokesperson, Demola Bakare, said, stressing that, “Our investigations are still ongoing, and there are no indictments yet.”

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Ogba, Lagos, has announced that its 2025 convocation ceremony would take place on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.

According to the official schedule, the convocation lecture will hold on Monday, May 5, at 11 am at the Kesington Adebutu Media Resource Centre, located within the institute’s premises.

The main convocation ceremony is slated for Tuesday, May 6, also at 11 am, and will take place at the NIJ premises.

The convocation will cover graduating students from the classes of 2022 through 2024 across its National Diploma, Higher National Diploma, and Post Graduate Diploma programmes.

Business Post gathered that students who excelled during their academic pursuits at the monotechnic would be recognised and awarded for their feats.

Graduating students are expected to receive their certificates immediately after the convocation.

The event is expected to bring together the management, academic staff, students, alumni, and dignitaries from the media and communication sectors to celebrate the achievements of the graduating students.