The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has denied claims of mismanagement in disbursing student loan funds.
They development comes after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it was investigating alleged corruption in the disbursement of the funds.
In a statement by the fund’s Director of Strategic Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, NELFund said ICPC’s comment was taken out of context.
“These reports, which suggest misappropriation and mismanagement of funds, are entirely false, grossly irresponsible, and deeply damaging to the integrity of an institution established to deliver financial hope to millions of Nigerians,” Oluwatuyi said.
Meanwhile, the ICPC has clarified its earlier statement on the student loan. The institution’s spokesman, Demola Bakare, said the agency’s move to investigate the disbursement of the funds was due to claims that 51 schools were involved in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFund scheme.
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.
She explained that all institutional fees are paid directly to verified institutions, while upkeep allowances go into the verified bank accounts of eligible students.
But in an update, Bakare clarified that: “Unintentionally, the word ‘NOT’ was missing in the second to the last paragraph of our earlier press release in respect of an ongoing investigation regarding the Student Loan Scheme. The missing word created an erroneous impression that the alleged discrepancies or diversion had been established
