The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced the disbursement of N58.85 billion to cover tuition and upkeep fees for over 550,000 Nigerian students during its first year of operation, even as the agency faces allegations of missing funds.

NELFUND's Director of Corporate Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, made this disclosure in a statement released on Saturday to commemorate the agency's one-year anniversary since its establishment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 24, 2024.

According to the statement, NELFUND has registered over 600,000 students and processed more than 550,000 successful loan applications within the past year.

"This milestone reflects a bold commitment by the federal government to empower Nigerian students by removing financial barriers to higher education," the statement partly reads.

Missing Fund Allegations

The announcement comes amid ongoing controversies surrounding allegations of N71 billion in missing and unaccounted funds at NELFUND. Three weeks ago, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) launched an investigation into the agency over discrepancies in fund disbursement to students under the scheme.

However, NELFUND's Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, has firmly denied these allegations, stating in a May 4 interview with Channels Television that "No money is missing. No money has been stolen. There had been some issues with what happened at the phase of this where human intervention comes in."

The student loan scheme, launched as part of President Tinubu's administration's efforts to increase access to higher education, has faced scrutiny in recent months with calls from the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) for the dismissal of vice-chancellors and rectors allegedly involved in mismanagement of the loan scheme.

Despite these challenges, NELFUND maintains that it has successfully transformed access to education financing in Nigeria during its first year of operation, with billions disbursed to support students' educational pursuits across the country.