The federal government has uncovered how banks and university authorities are colluding to promote unethical practices in the disbursement of student loan funds.
NELfund is a students loan scheme initiated by the Nigerian government to ease the burden of school fees and ultimately increase access to education.
Under the scheme, loans applied for by students are directly disbursed to the institutions.
However, some universities, in connivance with banks are inventing new methods to defraud the FG; deprive the students and undermine the scheme.
While uncovering the plots after meeting with the Managing Director of the National Student Loan Fund, NELFund, Akintunde Sawyerr, the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement on Sunday, said early indications suggest that university officials are withholding crucial information regarding the release of loan funds, prompting NELFund to take immediate action.
He said specific institutions working in collusion with certain banks have deliberately delayed payments to successful student applicants for their financial gain.
According to him, some universities are failing to acknowledge the disbursements made by NELFund to the students.
Sawyerr, who confirmed the concerns at the meeting, stated that NELFund had discovered instances where institutions received student loan funds directly but failed to inform the students or properly record the payments.
“Recent findings by NELFund have shown that some institutions have received student loan disbursements directly into their accounts yet neglect to inform the affected students or record the payments in their financial records, leading to unnecessary confusion.
“Withholding critical financial information from students is not only unethical but also a breach of the principles on which NELFund was founded. We are prepared to take legal action against any institution engaged in such deceptive practices,” Sawyerr said.
Issa-Onilu warned the implicated institutions and collaborating banks, demanding an immediate end to such activities.
