The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has urged the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to ensure that funds approved by the Federal Government as student loans reach the intended beneficiaries, while strengthening measures against diversion and other financial crimes.
Olukoyede made the call in Abuja on Wednesday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the EFCC and NELFUND at the commission’s corporate headquarters.
The agreement is meant to strengthen collaboration, prevent financial infractions and ensure accountability in the management and disbursement of proceeds of crime allocated for educational support.
Describing NELFUND as one of the major legacy projects of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, the EFCC boss commended its management for the progress made in giving students access to education financing.
He said the commission’s mandate goes beyond recovering proceeds of crime to ensuring that recovered funds are put to productive use for Nigerians.
Under the MoU, both agencies will set up a joint team, the Fraud Assessment and Control Unit, to ensure compliance with the set guidelines.
Olukoyede stressed that the partnership should focus on prevention rather than waiting for funds to be stolen before taking action.
He said the EFCC would work with NELFUND to examine its processes, identify vulnerabilities and strengthen internal controls so that funds meant for students reach them as intended.
“There are certain things you might not have addressed your mind to, because that is what we do. We could give all your attention to it.
We don’t have to necessarily wait for money to be stolen before we go into action. Why can’t we provide more prevention? Even if it doesn’t occur at the level of the organisation, across or along the chain, something could happen,” he said.
He explained that concern for young people informed the EFCC’s interest in supporting NELFUND, noting that a substantial proportion of those investigated for cybercrime are young people and, in some cases, students.
“Whatever we recover from these proceeds of crime, why can’t we use it to also support them?” he asked, adding that applying recovered proceeds to support students was driven by the need to address vulnerabilities that could expose young people to economic crimes.
The EFCC chairman also advised NELFUND to explore direct disbursement to beneficiaries, subject to verification by educational institutions.
He said universities and other institutions could play a critical role in authenticating students’ identities and ensuring that only genuine beneficiaries access the funds.
“Let it go directly to the human beings,” Olukoyede said, stressing that the commission wanted the benefits of recovered funds to reach the people for whom they were intended.
He urged NELFUND to access only funds legitimately due to it and to apply such resources promptly for their purpose.
Olukoyede expressed confidence that the MoU would strengthen risk assessment, improve accountability and establish safeguards to protect the programme beyond the tenure of the current leadership of both institutions.
Earlier, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyer, commended the EFCC for its support and its emphasis on preventing economic crimes before they occur.
He said the commission’s preventive approach had helped NELFUND establish stronger standards of transparency and accountability in the management of its resources.
