Federal Ministry of Education started investigations about unauthorized student loan deductions which certain higher education institutions reportedly applied.
The Federal Ministry of Education initiated its investigation which followed two days after The Guardian reported unauthorized deductions from student loans and dual institutional fee collections from NELFUND and students while numerous institutions refused student refund requests.
Ministry spokesperson Boriowo Folasade stated that the Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa displayed worry regarding The Guardian’s published report.
The Minister called a meeting between Vice-Chancellors and NELFUND representatives which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
The Federal Ministry of Education takes serious notice of the Tuesday April 29th 2025 Guardian Newspaper report which accuses some Nigerian universities of performing unauthorized fund transactions from NELFund payments according to Mr Boriowo Folasade.
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The planned assembly seeks to examine this situation comprehensively while holding people accountable so the Ministry can reconfirm its firm stance against financial fraud in educational institutions.
Through a partnership between the Ministry and Athena Centre the organizations will implement tracking systems and countdown tracking pages for monitoring institutional transparency.
Through their partnership the organization will provide technical help while creating an Annual University Transparency Index to increase global visibility of Nigerian universities along with accountability standards.
Bursars and ICT Heads of universities and polytechnics will attend a training session about open-portal initiative development and maintenance.
The Minister declared that the administration will protect public funds while delivering complete educational benefits under government support schemes to students.
According to The Guardian newspaper fifty-one educational institutions became suspects in illegal money withdrawal activities which harmed student benefits under the loan program.
Each received institutional fee from NELFUND generates a profit of N3,500 to N30,000 for the defaulting institutions according to the report.
