The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, has dismissed allegations of financial misappropriation within the agency, saying there is no evidence to support the claims.
Sawyerr spoke during an interview with ARISE NEWS monitored by The News Chronicle on Monday, where he explained that NELFUND required adequate capital to provide loans to students under the Federal Government’s education financing scheme.
“There is no evidence of any financial misappropriation by NELFUND. The reality of it is that in order for people to take a loan, there has to be some capital they can draw on,” he said.
According to Sawyerr, the establishment of NELFUND formed part of the Federal Government’s broader welfare interventions following the removal of fuel subsidy.
He said the funds previously allocated to subsidy were being redirected towards programmes designed to support Nigerians, including student financing through NELFUND.
Sawyerr also defended the transparency of the agency’s disbursement process, rejecting claims that the scheme was opaque.
He said payments to tertiary institutions and students were made electronically and could be traced.
The NELFUND boss disclosed that the agency recently transferred more than N1 billion to the University of Ibadan, while students’ upkeep allowances were paid directly into their bank accounts.
“The University of Ibadan students, before NELFUND, probably had a very high dropout rate because they just didn’t have access to capital to go to school.
“Now, the President introduced NELFUND; we paid, I believe, over a billion naira to the University of Ibadan recently. And those funds are transferred directly to the institution. So, where is the opacity in that?” he said.
Sawyerr explained that funds transferred to institutions were intended to enable eligible students to continue their education, while upkeep payments were sent directly to beneficiaries.
He said all transactions could be electronically traced from the Central Bank of Nigeria to the receiving institutions or students.
“Now, in those two actions, the transfers of money are done electronically. It’s entirely traceable,” he said.
Sawyerr also dismissed concerns over possible favouritism or ethnic bias in the selection of beneficiaries, saying the application process was entirely electronic and based on established eligibility criteria.
READ ALSO: Gunmen Kill Popular Awka Town Crier ‘Azia Nwosu,’ Another in Separate Attacks
“We receive applications electronically. The system doesn’t recognise whether you’re male, female, whether you’re Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Fulani, Ibibio, or Ogoja.
“As long as you have an NIN, it’s in your favour because it means you’re Nigerian. If you have a JAMB registration number, it means that you’re properly qualified to access the tertiary institution that we deal with,” he said.
He added that applicants were required to meet conditions such as having valid admission and matriculation or registration details, as well as a bank account for electronic payments.
Sawyerr stressed that the system was designed to eliminate personal connections from the selection process.
“From our perspective, it’s completely agnostic as far as how people are chosen or concerned. It doesn’t care whether you’re friends with the Managing Director or in-laws with the Executive Director. It doesn’t care,” he said.
