The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has launched investigations into 34 tertiary institutions over allegations that they failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid twice under the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this during an interview on ARISE NEWS, saying the agency began the probe after receiving a surge of petitions from affected students.
According to him, the double-payment issue arose when President Bola Tinubu directed that the student loan scheme commence midway into the academic session, prompting many students to pay their tuition before NELFUND later disbursed the funds directly to their institutions.
“As a result, some schools received tuition payments from both the students and NELFUND. The responsibility of refunding the excess payment lies with the institutions,” Sawyerr explained.
He noted that many affected students had borrowed money from relatives or lenders to pay their fees and were depending on the refunds to settle those debts.
While commending some institutions for processing refunds promptly, Sawyerr said others had failed to do so, although he stopped short of accusing them of deliberate wrongdoing.
“Some institutions handled the refunds responsibly, while others lacked the necessary processes to return the money to students,” he said.
To address the challenge, NELFUND is developing a tokenised payment system that will allow students to authorise tuition payments electronically through their mobile phones before funds are transferred to their schools.
Sawyerr also reaffirmed that tuition fees are paid directly to institutions—not students—to minimise the risk of fund diversion.
He, however, admitted that NELFUND lacks the legal authority to compel institutions to issue refunds or prosecute offenders, adding that the agency is collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), and internal auditors to investigate the allegations.
According to him, a joint five-member investigative team has already visited one of the accused institutions.
Sawyerr further revealed that NELFUND has also refused to honour tuition payments for institutions that increased their fees beyond acceptable levels after the loan scheme was introduced.
He stressed that the agency would continue investigating every reported case while strengthening its payment system to improve transparency and accountability.
