President Bola Tinubu has directed that legally cleared funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as well as unclaimed dividends and funds from dormant accounts, be channelled to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to strengthen funding for Nigerian students.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the presidential Villa, Abuja.
Alausa said the President directed that the recovered funds be transferred to NELFUND, underscoring the President’s emphasis on education as a foundation for economic development.
According to the minister, the President believes that the education of Nigerian children “cannot wait” and is of utmost importance to him.
Alausa said the directive was part of efforts to ensure that NELFUND had the financial capacity to meet its growing obligations and continue supporting Nigerian students.
He, however, clarified that recovered EFCC funds that are still subject to legal challenges would not be transferred to NELFUND.
According to him, President Tinubu had directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to work with the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Education and the Minister of State for Education to examine the legalities surrounding the funds.
“Every single fund that is still subject to any legal challenge will not be part of the money that will be transferred to NELFUND,” Alausa said.
He explained that only cleared and unencumbered funds that had been legally recovered and belonged to Nigeria and Nigerians would be transferred.
The minister also said the government would examine the legal framework surrounding unclaimed dividends from the capital market and the Dormant Account Trust Fund to determine what could lawfully be deployed to NELFUND.
Alausa said more than 1.2 million Nigerian students were currently benefiting from NELFUND.
He disclosed that NELFUND had disbursed more than ₦93 billion in stipends to students across public institutions nationwide, including both federal and state institutions.
He added that more than N250 billion had also been disbursed as institutional fees to public institutions nationwide.
The minister described the development as a major boost to education financing and said it demonstrated the President’s commitment to expanding access to education for Nigerian students.
He also said the President had promised during the campaign that, within the first six months of his administration, he would ensure the NELFUND bill was passed and implemented.
According to Alausa, the implementation of NELFUND represented a fulfilment of that promise.
The minister also disclosed that the FEC approved a proposal to transform the Suleja Academy into an Academy for Gifted and Talented children.
He said the Suleja Academy was established many years ago to identify gifted children in Nigeria and nurture them to become innovators of the future. Still, it had not functioned as originally intended.
According to him, the academy had instead been operating as one of the federal colleges.
Alausa said the government would now transform the Suleja Academy into an autonomous academy with its own board and council.
He added that its sources of funding would be diversified to include appropriation, endowment and gifts to the academy.
“We have to look for every single genius in this country and bring them in, nurture them, and let them create the Nigeria of tomorrow,” he said.
