NELFUND investigates 34 institutions over unrefunded student tuition fees

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund NELFUND is investigating approximately 34 tertiary institutions for allegedly failing to refund students whose tuition fees were paid twice under the Federal Government's student loan scheme. Akintunde Sawyerr, NELFUND's Managing Director, stated in an interview with ARISE NEWS that the investigations were launched due to numerous petitions from affected students. The issue arose because President Bola Tinubu directed the loan scheme to begin mid-academic session, leading some students to pay tuition before receiving NELFUND loans. Consequently, some schools received double payments, from both students and NELFUND. Sawyerr clarified that the refund process is the responsibility of the institutions that received the double payments, as NELFUND does not have legal power to compel refunds or prosecute offenders. Many students rely on these refunds to repay funds borrowed by themselves or their families. While some institutions have processed refunds promptly, others have not. NELFUND is upgrading its payment system to allow students to authorize tuition payments electronically via a tokenized system to prevent future issues. The agency deliberately pays tuition directly to institutions to mitigate the risk of fund diversion by students. Sawyerr also mentioned that NELFUND has refused to pay institutions that increased fees beyond acceptable levels after the scheme's introduction. NELFUND is collaborating with anti-corruption agencies, the Nationa