Politics
Tinubu directs EFCC-recovered funds to NELFUND
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that liquid funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) be channelled into the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to strengthen the Federal Government’s student loan programme.
The directive was disclosed on Wednesday by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
“The President has directed – and this was endorsed by FEC – that all seized funds by the EFCC should be directed to NELFUND to fund the education of our children,” the minister said.
Alausa said the council also approved the transfer of unclaimed dividends held under the Capital Market Trust Fund and the Dormant Account Trust Fund to NELFUND, subject to compliance with relevant legal requirements.
According to him, Tinubu directed the Ministers of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the Attorney-General of the Federation, working with the Ministry of Education, the Debt Management Office and other relevant agencies, to develop the framework for the transfer.
He said the Attorney-General would work with the EFCC chairman to review the legal framework governing the relevant funds and determine how the recovered money could lawfully be transferred to NELFUND.
“Funds currently subject to legal challenges will be excluded from the transfer process. The plan is to transfer unencumbered funds that were previously looted and rightfully belong to Nigerians,” he added.
He said there is a proposal to utilise the recovered funds to prioritise the education of children.
“The education of our children cannot wait. It is of utmost importance to him, and he will do anything and everything to protect the future of every single Nigerian child, every single Nigerian student,” he said.
The move comes as the Federal Government seeks to sustain and expand its student loan scheme, which was established to enable Nigerian students to access higher education without being prevented by inability to pay institutional charges or upkeep costs.
NELFUND was established under the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Act, 2024, signed into law by Tinubu on April 3, 2024.
The 2024 law replaced the earlier 2023 Student Loan Act after the government identified challenges relating to the governance and management of the scheme, eligibility, application procedures, loan purposes and repayment mechanisms. The law established NELFUND as a corporate body responsible for receiving, managing and investing funds for education loans.
The government subsequently launched the NELFUND application portal in May 2024, while digital disbursement began in 2025. NELFUND says the scheme now has more than 1.3 million registered students and has received more than 1.6 million loan applications.
NELFUND framework provides for loans covering institutional charges and upkeep, with repayment provisions applying after beneficiaries leave school.
The ICIR reports that the use of recovered proceeds of crime to support the student loan scheme is not entirely new.
In July 2024, during the nationwide protests over economic hardship, Tinubu announced that the government had ordered the release of an additional N50 billion from EFCC proceeds of crime for NELFUND, alongside another N50 billion for the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation.
Alausa said more than 1.2 million students are currently benefiting from NELFUND, while more than N93 billion has been disbursed as stipends to students in public tertiary institutions.
He added that NELFUND had disbursed more than N250 billion in institutional fees to public tertiary institutions at federal and state levels.
Under NELFUND’s published terms, beneficiaries who participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) are expected to begin repayment two years after completing NYSC, while employed beneficiaries are subject to repayment arrangements tied to their income.
The student loan initiative was one of Tinubu’s major promises after his election, as the original Student Loan Act was signed in June 2023, but the administration later repealed and replaced it with the 2024 legislation after identifying weaknesses in the first framework.
When Tinubu launched NELFUND’s digital disbursement process in July 2024, the administration said the scheme was intended to remove financial barriers to higher education and make access to tertiary education more inclusive.
Beyond student loans, Alausa said FEC approved the transformation of the existing Suleja Academy into an autonomous Nigeria Academy for Gifted and Talented Children.
The academy will have its own governing structures, while funding will come through appropriations, endowments and donations. The Attorney-General is also expected to prepare an executive bill to provide legislative backing for the institution.
FEC also approved the augmentation of the contract for the completion of the National Library of Nigeria Headquarters Building Complex in Abuja, a project that began in 2006 but stalled after work stopped in 2008.
Alausa said funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), alongside about N25 billion raised following an initiative by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, would support the completion of the project.
The council further approved an Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Incubation Certification Programme for 14 federal universities, beginning with institutions including Ahmadu Bello University, Bayero University, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Abuja, University of Benin, University of Ibadan and University of Lagos.
The programme, according to the minister, is designed to provide students with entrepreneurship, innovation, business incubation, mentorship and digital skills, with the broader objective of shifting graduates from job seekers to job creators.
The latest decisions place student financing, skills development and infrastructure at the centre of the Federal Government’s current education agenda, while the proposed use of recovered funds introduces a new question of how sustainably the country’s expanding student loan obligations can be financed.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.