The National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) Wednesday insisted that no money was diverted in executing the students loan scheme as alleged by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC).
NELFUND said the figures ICPC quoted as total receipts by the fund were understated.
Managing Director of NELFUND, Adekunle Sawyer, stated this when he led the management team of the fund to appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Students Loan, Scholarship and Higher Education.
“We, at the NELFund, were caught up in that release by the ICPC, who indicated that they were of the opinion that funds had been diverted by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. We immediately reacted to that report because we recognised the damage. Even though we knew it was unfounded, we recognised the damage that it might do to public confidence in a scheme where there was already a great deal of skepticism,” he said.
He stated further that even though the statement was later retracted by ICPC, a great deal of damage was done because, once news is out, you can retract all you like, it takes on a life of its own, and a lot of confidence has been lost in the institution.
He explained that N54 billion has been disbursed in total from inception of the NELFund, and that of that figure, “N30 billion has gone to institutional payments, and N24 billion has gone to pocket money, stipend or upkeep, depending on the language we want to use, representing direct beneficiaries of NELFund at 293,000.”
