The House of Representatives Joint Committee on Student Loans has promised to ensure fairness, accountability and transparency in the disbursement and management of the funds.

The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Ifeoluwa Ehindero made the pledge on Monday in Abuja during an investigative hearing on alleged unethical practices in the disbursement and management of loans by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

The joint committee comprised members of the committees on Scholarships and Higher Education Financing, Banking and other Ancillary Matters and Anti-Corruption and University Education.

It was mandated to probe the alleged diversion, non-disclosure and mismanagement of student loan disbursements, as well as non-compliance with the Student Loans Act, 2024.

Ehindero said that the hearing was convened in response to the mounting public concern and a resolution of the house, following stakeholders’ complaints, credible reports indicating irregularities, lack of transparency, and possible ethical violations in the operations of NELFUND.

He acknowledged the critical role NELFUND plays in shaping access to tertiary education in the country saying that education is not just a personal right, but a public good and a cornerstone of national development

According to the lawmaker, any systemic flaws or exploitation within the system would compromise the nation’s collective goals of promoting equity, empowering youth, and advancing national development.

“I must commend NELFUND and Nigerian students for embracing this transformative journey of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the education sector.

“NELFUND has disbursed over N73.1 billion Naira in loans as at Monday June 30, 2025 with a total of N366,247 student beneficiaries across federal and state tertiary institutions.

“N38.2 billion Naira was allocated to tuition fees and N34.8 billion Naira was for upkeep allowance to over 206 beneficiary institutions,” he said.

Ehindero noted that the hearing was not convened to witch-hunt anyone but to seek the truth, gather facts, and ensure accountability.

“Our commitment is to the Nigerian people particularly the teeming youth who look to government programmes like NELFUND for opportunity, support, and hope.

“We are here to ask questions, to uncover the truth, and to ensure that transparency, accountability, and fairness are upheld in the administration of this important national programme,” he said.

In his presentation, the acting Vice Chancellor of Reverend Father Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi (MOAUM), formerly Benue State University, Prof. Simon Ubwa said 2,706 out of the student population of over 24, 000 of the school applied and obtained the loan.

Ubwa commended the federal government for the initiative saying that it had addressed the challenge of the backlog of tuitions owed by students, which was negatively affecting the university’s finance and impeding its progress.

He said the initiative would help universities recover most of the monies they lost in revenue through students who have not been able to pay their school fees.

“Just like every other university, our university also has this problem of students not paying their user charges; we do not call it school fees or tuition fees but user charges.

“It is according to what they use that we try to charge. Every year we have more than a half of the population of students not being able to pay.

“The university regulation is that if a student does not register, he should not attend lectures and not take examinations.

“With the number of students we have who default in payment of fees, if we were to enforce that regulation strictly, we will have more than half of the students not graduating.

“So, this initiative of the federal government is a welcome development; we see that most of these students who default in payment are not because they do not want to pay, but because they do not have.

The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lafia, Prof. Shehu Abdulrahman, praised the scheme, noting its significant benefits to the institution, particularly given its location in an agrarian community, where tuition payments posed a substantial challenge.

Represented by the university’s Director of Academic Planning, Prof. Ilemona Adofu, Abdulrahman said that the institution does not have challenges in the disbursement of the fund.

“In the Federal University of Lafia, we are grateful to Mr. President for this initiative. Our university is located in an area that is predominantly made up of farmers.

“Payment of school fees has always been a challenge but this has gone a long way in alleviating some of the students’ struggles, and we want to commend him for that.

“In the Federal University of Lafia, we do not have any problem concerning the disbursement to students but we have brought all the documents as requested by the committee and they are here submitted to the clerk,” he said.

Also, the acting Vice Chancellor of Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, Prof. Mathew Adamu commended the green chambers for embarking on the probe to unearth the allegations arising from the scheme’s implementation.

He described the scheme as a fantastic initiative as it gave even tone opportunity to acquire tertiary education in the country.

“So I am happy that the people’s parliament, the House of Representatives, has decided to set up this committee to let us know these challenges and what is causing the delay in disbursement.

“It is a good one and I know that by the time you are through with the entire six geopolitical zones and submit your report, we will be able to proffer solutions to how these bottlenecks can be addressed,” he said.