The National Orientation Agency has uncovered a widespread fraud within the Federal Government’s student loan scheme, implicating several Nigerian universities and financial institutions in deliberately withholding disbursed funds meant for students.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the agency’s Deputy Director of Communications and Media, Paul Odenyi, disclosed that an investigation by the agency’s Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers (COMO) revealed unethical practices perpetrated by tertiary institutions in collusion with banks, denying students access to loans allocated by the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
NOA’s Director General, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, disclosed the findings following a high-level meeting with NELFUND’s Managing Director, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, over the weekend.
“Preliminary reports prompted urgent intervention from NELFUND after it was discovered that some university officials had deliberately withheld critical details about student loan disbursements,” Issa-Onilu said.
According to the agency, some universities, working hand-in-hand with certain banks, delayed or failed to release loan funds to approved students, allegedly for dubious financial gains.
In some cases, institutions failed to acknowledge the funds already disbursed by NELFUND and continued to demand full tuition fees from affected students.
Confirming the infractions, NELFUND’s MD, Sawyerr, said some institutions had received loan payments directly into their accounts but neither recorded the payments nor informed the students involved.
“Recent findings by NELFUND have shown that some institutions have received student loan disbursements directly into their accounts yet neglect to inform the affected students or record the payments in their financial records, leading to unnecessary confusion,” Sawyerr stated.
He warned that the fund would pursue legal action against any university or financial institution found guilty of engaging in fraudulent activities.
“Withholding critical financial information from students is not only unethical but also a breach of the principles on which NELFUND was founded,” he said.
Issa-Onilu described the actions of the institutions as a gross violation of student rights and a betrayal of public trust, stressing that such practices would not be tolerated.
He said the NOA had directed all its state offices to intensify student feedback collection to help the Federal Government identify and sanction defaulting institutions.
“The NOA remains committed to transparency, accountability, and ensuring that students benefit fully from the government’s intervention in education financing,” the statement added.
The agency said the investigation is still ongoing and further measures would be taken in the coming weeks.
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