The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has clarified that no discrepancies have been found in the disbursement of student loans by the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), contrary to earlier media reports suggesting otherwise.
The anti-graft agency issued a correction on Thursday, noting that a typographical omission in its previous press release created confusion and wrongly implied the existence of fraud or irregularities in the loan distribution process.
ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, explained that the commission’s earlier statement mistakenly omitted the word “not” in a key paragraph.
This omission inadvertently gave the impression that discrepancies had already been confirmed in the student loan scheme.
The initial release, titled ‘ICPC Launches Comprehensive Investigation into Discrepancies in Student Loan Disbursement’, was based on media claims that 51 tertiary institutions were implicated in illegal deductions from students under the NELFUND scheme.
However, the commission clarified that it has only reviewed the total funds received and disbursed so far and has not made any findings of fraud or diversion at this stage.
Further investigations still underway
According to Bakare, investigations are still ongoing and will now focus on institutions and individual recipients. Only after this next phase will the commission be able to make “reasonable deductions” regarding any irregularities.
The ICPC emphasized that no conclusions have been reached about mismanagement or diversion of funds and urged the public and media to disregard misleading interpretations of the earlier release. T
he commission expressed regret over the confusion caused and reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and due process in its investigative work.
