The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has begun investigating 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 scheme.
Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this during an interview. He said the agency launched the investigation after receiving numerous complaints from affected students.
According to him, the issue arose because the student loan programme started midway into the academic session, leading many students to pay their school fees before later receiving tuition payments from NELFUND. As a result, some institutions received payments from both the students and the loan fund.
Sawyerr explained that while schools are responsible for refunding the excess payments, NELFUND has no direct control over the refund process.
He noted that many students urgently need the refunds because they borrowed money from relatives or other sources to pay their fees before the loan scheme became operational.
The NELFUND boss said some institutions had refunded students without delay, while others had yet to do so, adding that the agency was still determining whether the delays were caused by administrative challenges or other reasons.
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He also revealed that NELFUND is developing a digital payment system that will allow students to authorise tuition payments electronically through a secure token on their mobile phones.
Sawyerr explained that tuition payments are made directly to schools instead of students to prevent the diversion of loan funds for other purposes.
However, he admitted that NELFUND lacks the legal authority to compel institutions to refund students or prosecute those found guilty of wrongdoing.
He added that the agency is collaborating 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), and internal auditors to investigate the allegations.
According to him, a joint investigative team has already visited one of the institutions accused of withholding refunds.
Sawyerr also disclosed that NELFUND has refused to pay tuition fees to institutions that increased their charges beyond acceptable limits after the introduction of the student loan scheme.
He added that while investigations are ongoing, the agency is taking a cautious approach and has not concluded that the institutions deliberately withheld the refunds.
