The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on Wednesday, declared that there was no fraud uncovered in the student loan scheme.
Alausa made this known at the end of a meeting held with Vice Chancellors, officials of the National Universities Commission, Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Federal Ministry of Education.
Alausa also described the statement put up by the Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission and other related offences as incorrect.
“Let me start by saying that there is no fraud in NELFUND. ICPC reported that the information was not correct. There is no fraud in NELFUND; what we have are issues that have to do with the timeline.”
Recently, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission said it commenced a comprehensive investigation into alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of student loans under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund.
The commission said its preliminary findings revealed that while the Federal Government released N100 billion for the scheme, only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving N71.2b unaccounted for.
Worried by the development, the National Association of Nigerian Students vowed to protest the alleged discrepancy.
The National Orientation Agency had alleged that certain schools, conniving with some banks, delayed payments to students who qualified for loans so they could make money off the situation.
