EFCC, NELFUND Sign MoU to Strengthen Accountability in Student Loan Disbursement

EFCC, NELFUND Sign MoU to Strengthen Accountability in Student Loan Disbursement

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to ensure that government-approved student loan funds reach the intended beneficiaries directly while strengthening measures to prevent diversion and other financial crimes.

EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, gave the charge on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, in Abuja during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the EFCC and NELFUND at the Commission’s corporate headquarters.

The agreement is aimed at strengthening collaboration between both institutions, preventing financial infractions and promoting accountability in the management and disbursement of proceeds of crime allocated for educational support.

Olukoyede described NELFUND as one of the major legacy initiatives of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration and commended its management for expanding access to education financing for Nigerian students.

He said the EFCC’s mandate goes beyond recovering proceeds of crime, stressing that the Commission is also concerned with ensuring that recovered funds are put to productive use for the benefit of Nigerians.

Under the MoU, the EFCC and NELFUND will establish a joint Fraud Assessment and Control Unit to assess risks, strengthen internal controls and ensure compliance with established guidelines.

Olukoyede emphasised the need for a preventive approach to financial crimes, saying institutions should identify vulnerabilities and address them before funds are diverted.

“There are certain things you might not have addressed your mind to, because that is what we do. We could give all your attention to it. We don’t have to necessarily wait for money to be stolen before we go into action. Why can’t we provide more prevention?” he said.

The EFCC Chairman linked the Commission’s interest in supporting NELFUND to the need to address vulnerabilities among young Nigerians, noting that a significant number of people investigated for cybercrime are youths, including students.

He said recovered proceeds of crime could be channelled into productive interventions that support young people and reduce some of the vulnerabilities that could expose them to economic crimes.

Olukoyede also advised NELFUND to strengthen direct disbursement mechanisms, subject to proper verification by educational institutions, to ensure that genuine beneficiaries receive the funds.

“Let it go directly to the human beings,” he said, stressing that the EFCC was particularly interested in ensuring that the benefits of recovered funds reached the people for whom they were intended.

He further urged NELFUND to access only funds legitimately allocated to it and ensure that such resources were applied promptly for their intended purposes.

The EFCC Chairman expressed confidence that the partnership would improve risk assessment, strengthen accountability and establish safeguards capable of protecting the programme beyond the tenure of the current leadership of both institutions.

Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyer, commended the EFCC for its support and emphasis on preventing financial crimes before they occur.

Sawyer disclosed that NELFUND had processed 1.6 million applications, with 960,000 loans approved, adding that the organisation had upgraded its systems and launched a new portal to improve the administration of the scheme.

He explained that applications, approvals and disbursements are processed electronically, with funds transferred through formal banking channels without the use of cash.

According to him, payments are made directly into students’ bank accounts, with identifiers such as the National Identification Number (NIN), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) registration details, matriculation numbers and Bank Verification Number (BVN) used for verification.

Sawyer said the system was designed to ensure that every transaction leaves an electronic trail, making it possible to track the movement of funds and strengthen transparency.

He also said NELFUND had deliberately eliminated unnecessary intermediaries from the process, stressing that applicants should not require personal connections within the organisation to access the loan scheme.

“We wanted to make sure that there are no gateways, no middlemen in between,” he said, adding that the system was designed to ensure that applicants could access the scheme without knowing any official personally.

Sawyer further stressed the importance of building institutional systems that would remain effective beyond the tenure of individual officials, saying checks, balances and multiple layers of oversight were essential to the sustainability of the programme.

He appreciated the EFCC for its role in recovering funds used to support NELFUND’s mandate and acknowledged the risks undertaken by Commission personnel in the recovery of proceeds of crime.

According to him, the MoU represents another step towards ensuring that recovered funds are protected from diversion after recovery and ultimately reach the students and institutions for whom they are intended.

The collaboration is expected to strengthen preventive controls, improve transparency and enhance accountability in the management of funds dedicated to supporting Nigerian students.

EFCC, NELFUND Sign MoU to Strengthen Accountability in Student Loan Disbursement