President Tinubu directs cleared EFCC-recovered looted funds and eligible dormant funds to NELFUND to strengthen student loan financing and tertiary education
Tinubu Orders Recovered Looted Funds Channelled to NELFUND for Student Loans
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that all legally cleared and unencumbered looted funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission be channelled to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to strengthen financing for tertiary education.
The President also ordered relevant authorities to explore the mobilisation of funds in the Unclaimed Dividends Trust Fund and Dormant Accounts Trust Fund for NELFUND, subject to the laws governing the two funds.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing journalists at the State House, Abuja, after the fourth Federal Executive Council meeting of the year presided over by Tinubu.
Alausa said the directive concerning EFCC recoveries applied only to liquid funds that had been legally recovered and were no longer subject to litigation. Seized properties, assets or funds still involved in court proceedings, he stressed, would not be transferred to NELFUND.
He said the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, Ministry of Education, Debt Management Office and other relevant agencies had been directed to develop the legal and operational framework for the transfer.
The Attorney-General, he added, would work with the EFCC chairman to identify recovered funds legally available for transfer.
“The President was very clear: not seized properties, all recovered looted funds, liquid funds recovered by the EFCC will now be transferred to NELFUND”, Alausa said.
The minister said the government would similarly review the laws establishing the Unclaimed Dividends Trust Fund and Dormant Accounts Trust Fund to determine how eligible resources could legally be made available to NELFUND.
“Every single fund that is still subject to a legal challenge will not be part of the money that will be transferred to NELFUND. The funds that will be transferred will be all cleared funds, unencumbered funds that were looted, funds that legally belonged to Nigeria, to Nigerians”, he said.
Alausa said Tinubu considered education one of the most productive uses for recovered public funds, particularly as the administration seeks to develop the human capital needed to drive its ambition of growing Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy.
He said the move would give NELFUND a more sustainable financial base as demand for the student loan scheme continues to rise.
According to the minister, more than 1.2 million Nigerian students are currently benefiting from NELFUND, which has disbursed more than N93 billion in upkeep allowances and over N250 billion in institutional fees to public tertiary institutions.
“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”, Alausa said.
The minister said the student loan scheme was also part of Tinubu’s campaign promise to expand access to tertiary education regardless of students’ financial circumstances.
Alausa also addressed complaints by students whose institutions had failed to refund fees paid before NELFUND subsequently settled their institutional charges. He said a framework had been established requiring institutions to refund affected students within a stipulated period, while any unresolved cases brought to the ministry would be investigated.
Meanwhile, FEC approved an additional N118.31 billion for the completion of the long-abandoned National Library of Nigeria headquarters complex in Abuja, alongside about N37 billion for furnishing the facility.
Alausa said the project, which began on April 29, 2006 and was initially scheduled for completion within two years, had been abandoned since work stopped in October 2008.
He said Tinubu had directed the ministry to mobilise resources to revive the project, including funding through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
The minister also acknowledged the role of First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, whose appeal for birthday gifts to be redirected towards the National Library project generated about N25 billion.
“The council today approved the augmentation of the existing contract for the completion of the construction of the National Library of Nigeria headquarters building complex in Abuja”, he said, adding that work was expected to resume within the next few months.
FEC also approved the establishment of the Nigerian Academy for the Gifted and Talented through the transformation of the existing Suleja Academy.
Alausa said the institution, originally established to identify and nurture exceptionally gifted Nigerian children, had gradually operated like a conventional Federal Government College, limiting its ability to fulfil its original mandate.
Under the new arrangement, the academy will operate as an autonomous institution with its own governing structure and funding sources, including federal allocations, endowments and donations.
FEC consequently approved the preparation of an executive bill by the Attorney-General for transmission to the National Assembly to give legal backing to the transformation.
“We have to look for every single genius in this country and bring them in, nurture them, and let them help create the Nigeria of tomorrow”, Alausa said.
The council also approved the rollout of an Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Incubation Certification programme in selected federal universities.
The minister described the initiative as a technology-driven programme designed to equip students with entrepreneurship, innovation, business incubation, enterprise development and digital skills, alongside certification, mentorship and incubation support.
The programme, which has already been tested at the University of Lagos, is expected to begin this year in 14 federal universities before being expanded to other tertiary institutions.
The participating universities are Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Bayero University, Kano; Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; University of Abuja; University of Benin; University of Ibadan; University of Ilorin; University of Jos; University of Lagos; University of Maiduguri; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; University of Port Harcourt; and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
Alausa said the series of approvals reflected the administration’s plan to place education at the centre of Nigeria’s economic transformation by equipping young Nigerians with both academic knowledge and practical skills.
He said Tinubu had mandated the education ministry to ensure that every Nigerian child has access to quality education comparable with standards obtainable globally.
