President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reaffirmed that all funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will be channelled into the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), insisting that the decision cannot e reversed.
Speaking on Friday, November 6, at the launch of Arise Palm Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Tinubu said the move was aimed at reducing the burden of tuition fees on parents and expanding access to education for Nigerians.
Tinubu said the decision was informed by the need to ease the burden of tuition fees in parents and ensure equal access to education for all Nigerians.
“I feel your pain and share in the difficulty, and that’s why I decided to take away the responsibility of tuition fees from parents and equal opportunities for everyone who wants to read, taking education as the greatest weapon against poverty”, he said.
“And creating opportunities for those who are still coming behind. From today on, as we are fighting corruption, any money recovered by the EFCC will be dumped into that education programme. It will be. No one can reverse it” .
On August 19, the president directed the EFCC to channel all recovered funds into NELFUND.
Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, announced the development while answering questions from the State House correspondents shortly after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that day.
He said the EFCC also approved the allocation of all the unclaimed dividends in the Capital Market Trust Fund and funds in the Dormant Account Trust Fund to the student loan scheme to expand its reach and improve its efficiency.
EFCC Chairman Oka Olukoyede disclosed in August that the Federal Government had allocated N100 billion from funds recovered by the anti-graft agency to the student loan scheme since 2024.
-9News Nigeria.
