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Gbemisola Oluwabusayo
3 weeks ago
Overview
Deductions of student loans will be treated as criminal offence — NEL FUND
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NEL FUND) has announced that any illegal deductions from student loans will be treated as a criminal offence.
NELFUND vowed to hold institutions accountable if they violate the terms and conditions associated with funds disbursed on behalf of students.
The Managing Director of NEL FUND, Akintunde Sawyer, made this known yesterday but noted that while the agency lacks the statutory power to suspend, remove, or expel erring heads of institutions, any identified illegality would be reported and addressed administratively by the Minister of Education.
He emphasized that NELFUND would not allow President Bola Tinubu’s initiative to make education accessible to Nigerians to be sabotaged by selfish interests.
Sawyer spoke during the Fund’s third-day stakeholders meeting and engagement with heads of colleges of education, agriculture, health, and nursing in Abuja.
He stated that the Fund is committed to paying all registration charges required for students to access classes for lectures, tutorials, and exams, among others.
Sawyer disclosed that so far, 303 institutions have been paid on behalf of 293,000 students, with the loan tied to JAMB, NIN, BVN, and matriculation numbers, adding that its structure has attracted more beneficiaries.
According to him, “The commitment of NEL FUND is to pay all their registration charges. Our instruction is that once they have paid their institutional charges, they must have access—I repeat, they must have access to education, lectures, classes, tutorials, and examinations.
“We paid the whole amount. We don’t want the students to put their hands in their pockets and bring out money, and we do not want students to pay because the school told them they haven’t received any money when they already have.
“That’s going to be a serious matter and will be attended to administratively. And if anything illegal is going on, they will be dealt with as criminal offences if schools are asking students to pay when we already have paid.
“This is not an issue of refund. There are certain instances when we’ve made payments to schools after the students have actually paid because we started payment mid-cycle, but anybody who pays to the school after the school has received money from NEL FUND is committing a crime.
“We don’t have the power to sanction—we can’t suspend, remove or expel, but if we find anything, we have to take it to the Minister, and if it’s criminal in nature, we have to escalate it to the agencies that will ensure that economic crimes and practices are not being committed.
“We can’t also punish the students for refusing to pay for the next session in the name of sanctioning the school. So we are treading with caution. Institutions that are erring are the ones that will face the music, and the Minister is determined that this programme by President Bola Tinubu is not sabotaged by selfish interest.”
Sawyer acknowledged public concerns over real or perceived illegalities and revealed that plans for thorough investigation into the matter have been concluded with separate investigative panels, including the National Orientation Agency (NOA), NEL FUND, and the Federal Ministry of Education.
“We are already conducting our own investigation. The NOA is conducting its own investigation, and the Ministry of Education through the Honourable Minister is conducting a holistic investigation,” he added.
Source Vanguard
