The Senate have frowned upon plan by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to spend N12bn to purchase a headquarters building.
It, on Thursday, warned it against the kind of profligacy that is the bane of many government agencies.
The Senate noted this as NELFUND said that as of 1st January 2025, it had disbursed N116.184billion as students’ loans across 176, 252 beneficiary institutions in the country.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyer, who disclosed this during a budget defence session organised by the joint National Assembly Committee on Tertiary institutions and TETFund, in Abuja, said the sum of N58.4billion was allocated to the agency as expenditure for the 2025 fiscal year.
As ‘The Nation’ reports, Sawyer explained that out of the N116.184billion, N37.7billion was spent on institution loan.
According to him, a total of 352,796 students applied for the loan, while 108,484, were attended to.
On the 2025 budgetary proposal, the NELFUND boss informed the Senator Muntari Dandutse and Hon Gboyega Isiaka-led joint committee of the National Assembly that N58.4billion budget envelope was given the agency.
According to him: “Out of the N58.4billon budgetary proposal for 2025, N12.2billion is earmarked for personnel cost, N24.7billion for overhead cost and N21.4billion for capital expenditure.
After consideration of budgetary proposals of the agency the joint committee accordingly approved it through voice vote put to members.
Before approval of the agency’s 2025 budgetary proposal, the Chairman of the joint Committee, Senator Dandutse Muntari harped on transparency on spending of appropriations made for the agency in 2025.
“We will examine NELFUND’s financial plan for the upcoming fiscal year to evaluate its alignment with national educational goals and its capacity to meet the growing demands for student loans because the agency plays an indispensable role in bridging financial gaps for students across our tertiary institutions,” he said.
Sawyerr had listed some projects, which the agency allocated funds to execute to include: N12billion for the purchase of a headquarters building; N4billion for sensitisation and awareness creation; and N2billion for data capture and operations.
However, senators faulted some of the projects, warning NELFUND against overwhelming itself with extraneous projects like other MDAs.
He advised the agency to liaise with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and apply for any of the many buildings forfeited to the government as proceeds of crime.
Abiru, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, said: “These are huge expenditures you are using tax prayers’ money to carry out.
“If you want the private sector to come in and partner and they do come in, these are the types of figures they will be pointing out.”
Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, called on the agency to focus on its core mandate of disbursing loans to students for now, which does not really require NELFUND to operate with any huge overheads or going into the execution of major capital projects.
“This is an agency that must succeed and we should do everything to ensure its success,” Ibrahim said.
