NELFUND Investigates 34 Institutions Over Unpaid Student Loan Refunds

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has launched investigations into about 34 tertiary institutions over allegations that they failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid twice under the Federal Government's student loan programme.

Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed the development during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Sunday, saying the agency initiated the probe after receiving numerous petitions and complaints from affected students across the country.

According to Sawyerr, the investigations are being conducted in collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), NELFUND's internal auditors and other relevant stakeholders.

He said the objective is to establish the extent of the alleged infractions and ensure that students receive refunds for duplicate tuition payments.

"I can tell you that there are about 34 institutions that we are looking at at the moment because of the number of petitions we've received," Sawyerr said.

He explained that the issue arose following President Bola Tinubu's directive for the immediate rollout of the student loan scheme during an ongoing academic session rather than waiting for the start of a new academic year.

According to him, many students had already paid their tuition fees before NELFUND later paid the same fees directly to their institutions, resulting in duplicate payments.

"What happened is that a lot of schools got double payment, some from the students and some from us. The institutions that received the duplicate payments are responsible for refunding the students," he said.

Sawyerr noted that many of the affected students had borrowed money from parents, relatives and other sources to settle their tuition before benefiting from the loan scheme, making the delayed refunds particularly burdensome.

While commending some institutions for promptly returning the excess payments, he said others had delayed the refund process. He, however, stated that investigations were still ongoing to determine whether the delays were deliberate or the result of administrative bottlenecks.

To prevent similar occurrences in future, Sawyerr disclosed that NELFUND is developing a token-based payment system that will allow students to authorise tuition payments directly at their institutions through their mobile phones.

He also defended the agency's policy of paying tuition fees directly to educational institutions instead of students, saying the approach was designed to prevent the diversion of education funds for non-academic purposes.

Despite the ongoing investigations, Sawyerr acknowledged that NELFUND does not have the statutory powers to compel institutions to issue refunds or prosecute those found culpable.

He revealed that many aggrieved students have independently submitted petitions to the EFCC and the ICPC, prompting the anti-corruption agencies to become involved in the matter.

According to him, NELFUND recently deployed a multi-agency investigative team comprising officials from the EFCC, ICPC, NANS and the agency's internal auditors to one of the institutions accused of withholding students' refunds.

Sawyerr also disclosed that NELFUND has rejected what it considers excessive tuition increases proposed by some tertiary institutions, insisting that the agency will not finance unjustified fee hikes.

He said the fund remains committed to strengthening transparency, accountability and efficiency in the implementation of the Federal Government's student loan programme while ensuring that beneficiaries receive the full benefits intended under the scheme.