Nigeria’s anti-graft commission says just ₦28.8 billion of a ₦100 billion student-loan pot ever reached learners, spotlighting a ₦71.2 billion shortfall and triggering a probe into universities, budget officials and NELFUND managers.
- ICPC probe widens: Budget Office, Accountant-General, CBN and NELFUND chiefs must now hand over full disbursement records and defend glaring gaps.
- University role under fire: Preliminary data suggest campus administrators misapplied funds meant for tuition relief, deepening distrust in higher-education governance.
- Students short-changed: Only 293,178 learners received support, barely a fraction of Nigeria’s tertiary-level population, forcing many to seek high-interest loans or drop out.
- Political tension: Critics warn the scandal could derail President Tinubu’s flagship social-investment pledge and erode public faith in new economic reforms.
- Call for safeguards: Civil-society groups demand transparent, tech-enabled tracking of future releases and penalties for institutions that divert social funds.
“I deferred a semester because the loan never came,” says Halima Yusuf, a microbiology student in Kano. Parents, already battling food inflation, now shoulder extra tuition costs, while lecturers fear funding scandals will harden public resistance to legitimate fee increases and research grants.
ICPC auditors will visit beneficiary campuses next, tracing individual payouts and matching names to bank receipts. If discrepancies persist, expect prosecutions under the Proceeds of Crime Act and a possible freeze on fresh NELFUND releases—can universities regain trust before the new academic year?
