...as South East VCs Commend President Tinubu on Scheme
ENUGU -- The House of Representatives on Wednesday commenced investigations into the disbursement of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) in the South East.
Chairman of the Joint Committee on Student Loans, Scholarships and Higher Education Financing, Banking and Other Ancillary Institutions, Anti-Corruption, and University Education, Prof. Paul Sunday Nnamchi, said the committee's mandate is to objectively probe allegations of infractions in the loan disbursement process across beneficiary institutions.
Prof. Nnamchi, who represents Enugu East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency, spoke at the South East Zonal Investigative Hearing held at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT). He explained that the committee would also interrogate the operational processes guiding student loan disbursement.
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According to him, the investigation will further examine compliance with legal and ethical frameworks and recommend actionable solutions to ensure transparency, fairness, and efficiency in the loan system.
"Once again, I must commend NELFund and Nigerian students for embracing this transformative journey of Mr. President's Renewed Hope Agenda in the education sector. As of Wednesday, 6th August 2025, NELFund has disbursed ₦86.3 billion in loans to 366,247 student beneficiaries across federal and state tertiary institutions, with ₦47.6 billion allocated to tuition fees and ₦38.7 billion as upkeep allowances to students in over 218 beneficiary institutions," he said.
He emphasized that the exercise was not a witch-hunt but a fact-finding and truth-seeking mission.
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellors of South East universities, who attended the hearing, commended President Bola Tinubu for introducing the NELFund scheme, noting that it has provided much-needed financial relief to indigent families struggling to send their wards to tertiary institutions.
The Vice Chancellor of ESUT, Prof. Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, represented by his Deputy, Prof. Chike Nwoha, in his welcome address, thanked the House Committee for its oversight, stressing that such monitoring would enhance accountability and transparency in the disbursement process.
The VCs, however, appealed to the Federal Government to support beneficiary institutions in offsetting the costs of running the loan scheme, noting that it has further depleted their already meagre resources.
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