N50Billion Given To Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND Came From Recovered Proceeds Of Crime, Not Donation –EFCC
The anti-corruption agency in a statement issued by its Head of Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, said the fund was rather part of the recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the Nigerian government which the government decided to plough into students loan scheme.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday said the N50 billion given to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), also known as Students Loan, was not a donation as reported by some media organisations.
The anti-corruption agency in a statement issued by its Head of Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, said the fund was rather part of the recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the Nigerian government which the government decided to plough into students loan scheme.
There were reports that the agency on Tuesday said that it gave the sum of N50 billion to support the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, when the Fund’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, led its management team on a courtesy visit to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.
But Oyewale said, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, wishes to clarify the reports in a section of the media today, August 14, 2024, purporting that the Commission donated N50 billion to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND from its recovery account.
“The said fund was not a donation by the Commission but part of the recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the government.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in furtherance of his social intervention policy for the most vulnerable segments of the population, decided in his wisdom, to plough the money into funding the critically acclaimed students loan scheme.
“It is not the place of the Commission to determine where the government commits recovered proceeds of crime.
“But the student’s loan scheme is a salutary innovation which has the potential to reduce youth involvement in criminality.
“As the Commission’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyde disclosed during a courtesy visit to the Commission by the NELFUND’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr on August, 13, 2026, the EFCC will monitor the use of the funds to ensure accountability and the realization of the objectives of the Scheme.”
