The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on Thursday, revealed that only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students in various tertiary institutions instead of N100 billion released to the schools.
The anti-graft agency specifically said its preliminary investigations have uncovered that not less than N71.2 billion have been diverted by the management of different universities who had taken custody of funds.
The spokesman of the commission, Demola Bakare, told journalists in Abuja that key stakeholders, including the Director-General of the Budget Office and the Accountant-General of the Federation have been invited.
Bakare also disclosed that senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of NELFUND were invited to provide documentation and explanations relevant to the case.
Daily Trust reports that the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Lanre Issa-Onilu, had two weeks raised the alarm that the universities were trying to sabotage the Tinubu-led government on the students’ loan scheme.
Issa-Onilu alleged that no fewer than 51 tertiary institutions were implicated in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFUND scheme, while calling on the anti-graft agencies to unravel the fraud and halt it.
Similarly, reports from the media also alleged that these institutions were said to have made unauthorized deductions ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from each student’s institutional fees received through the loan fund.
Giving an update on the issue, the ICPC spokesman explained that the commission had since swung into action following the alarm, adding that those found culpable would be brought to book.
Bakare said, “The Commission confirmed that its Chairman’s Special Task Force immediately swung into action upon receiving the report.
“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.”
He said the commission would from time-to-time provide further updates as the investigation progresses.
“Comprehensive investigations into the alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of students’ loans under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has commenced,” he stated.