A comprehensive review of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFund, operations across universities by the federal government, has commenced
The review followed allegations of fraud in the disbursement of the student loan which has elicited outrage across the country.
Dr Maruf Alausa, the Minister of Education, made the announcement while briefing journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, following a meeting with Vice Chancellors and the Managing Director of NELFund.
According to Alausa, the federal government formed a multi-stakeholder committee comprising Vice Chancellors, the National Universities Commission, NUC, NELFund and the Ministry of Education, saying that the committee has been tasked with assessing existing processes and delivering new, standardised guidelines to improve the disbursement, communication, and management of NELFund student loans nationwide.
The Minister explained, “We debated and discussed the processes that NELFund has in place, and the processes that our universities have put in place to receive money from NELFund. When they get this money, we also looked at how students are notified and how soon they get the funds after payment. The process seems to work well.”;;
He stated that although the current system for fund disbursement and student notification was functional, it required refinement, adding that several things came up with clear guidelines. Some of the terms of reference of the committee include standardising the nomenclature of the various charges that universities are applying to students.
He said the second term of reference they have assigned to the committee is to establish timelines for when NELFUND will disburse fees to universities, emphasising that the goal is not to overhaul the existing system but to enhance it.
The Minister stated that the existing processes are working but that the government is working to make them better, stressing that the committee has three weeks to submit its report.
”;;In the next four weeks, we’ll finalise new guidelines on how this entire process will work from NELFUND and from the universities. We’ll release those finalised guidelines to the universities and to the public.”;;
He further said the final recommendations would be shared publicly once the committee submits its report.
