The Federal Government has commenced a comprehensive review of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) operations across universities following allegations of fraud in the disbursement of student loans.

Dr. Maruf Alausa, the Minister of Education, made this announcement on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja after meeting with Vice Chancellors and the Managing Director of NELFund.

According to the Minister, the government has established a multi-stakeholder committee comprising Vice Chancellors, the National Universities Commission (NUC), NELFund officials, and representatives from the Ministry of Education to address the concerns that have sparked outrage nationwide.

"We debated and discussed the processes that NELFund has in place, and the processes that our universities have put in place to receive money from NELFund. When they get this money, we also looked at how students are notified and how soon they get the funds after payment. The process seems to work well," Alausa explained.

The Minister emphasized that while the current system for fund disbursement and student notification is functional, it requires refinement. The committee has been tasked with assessing existing processes and delivering new, standardized guidelines to improve the disbursement, communication, and management of NELFund student loans nationwide.

The committee's terms of reference include standardizing the nomenclature of various charges that universities apply to students and establishing clear timelines for when NELFund will disburse fees to universities.

"The goal is not to overhaul the existing system but to enhance it," Alausa stated. "The existing processes are working, but we are working to make them better."

The committee has been given three weeks to submit its report, after which the government plans to finalize and release new guidelines within four weeks.

"In the next four weeks, we'll finalize new guidelines on how this entire process will work from NELFund and from the universities. We'll release those finalized guidelines to the universities and to the public," the Minister assured.

The review comes at a critical time when access to education financing remains a significant challenge for many Nigerian students, with the NELFund established to provide financial support to those in need.