No fewer than 34 tertiary institutions across Nigeria are under investigation over allegations that they failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid twice under the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this during an interview on Arise Television, revealing that the agency has deployed a five-member investigative team, including operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and internal auditors, to examine the allegations.
According to Sawyerr, the probe was triggered by a wave of complaints from students who paid their tuition fees before their student loans were approved, only for NELFUND to later pay the same fees directly to their institutions.
He explained that the situation arose because President Bola Tinubu directed that the student loan scheme begin in the middle of an academic session rather than waiting for a new session, resulting in duplicate payments in some cases.
“What happened is that a lot of schools got double payment—some from the students and some from us,” he said, adding that it is the responsibility of institutions that received the duplicate payments to refund the affected students.
While noting that several institutions had already returned the excess payments, Sawyerr said others had yet to do so, although he stopped short of accusing them of deliberate misconduct.
He said NELFUND has no legal authority to compel institutions to issue refunds or prosecute officials involved, prompting collaboration with anti-corruption agencies as many affected students have also lodged complaints with the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Sawyerr also disclosed that NELFUND is developing a tokenised payment system that would enable students to authorise tuition payments directly to their schools, a move aimed at preventing future cases of duplicate payments.
He further expressed concern over tuition fee increases by some institutions after the introduction of the student loan scheme, saying the agency had refused to honour payment requests from schools that imposed excessive fee hikes.
NELFUND, he added, will continue to investigate all reported irregularities while strengthening safeguards to improve the implementation and transparency of the student loan programme.