The Federal Government has officially denied allegations of fraud in the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme following claims by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that N71.2 billion was unaccounted for.

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the clarification on Wednesday after a high-level meeting with Vice Chancellors, officials of the National Universities Commission, NELFUND representatives, and the Federal Ministry of Education.

"Let me start by saying that there is no fraud in NELFUND. ICPC reported that the information was not correct. There is no fraud in NELFUND; we have issues that have to do with the timeline," Dr. Alausa stated.

The controversy began when the ICPC announced plans to investigate alleged discrepancies in the disbursement of student loans. According to the anti-corruption agency's preliminary findings, while the government released N100 billion for the scheme, only N28.8 billion was reportedly disbursed to students, raising questions about the remaining N71.2 billion.

The allegations had prompted the National Association of Nigerian Students to threaten nationwide protests over the alleged financial discrepancy.

The Minister's statement appears to contradict the ICPC's initial findings, suggesting there may have been a misunderstanding or miscommunication regarding the fund's administration and disbursement timeline rather than actual fraud.

The Nigeria Education Loan Fund was established to provide financial assistance to Nigerian students in tertiary institutions, aiming to increase access to higher education by removing financial barriers.

This development comes as the education sector continues to face various challenges, with the government recently announcing other initiatives including the return of history studies to primary and secondary school curricula and granting licenses to 11 new private universities.