Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, charges N125,000 instead of N105,000, which is N20,000 more than the institutional fees. At Niger Delta University, instead of the approved N145,000 institutional fee, the school charges N30,000 extra, making the total sum N175,000.
At least 51 Nigerian universities and polytechnics have been implicated in exploiting the NELFUND student loan scheme, pocketing unauthorized deductions ranging from ₦3,500 to ₦30,000 per student. Investigations reveal institutions like UNIJOS, FUTA, and ABU charged inflated fees – with UNIJOS collecting ₦150,000 instead of the approved ₦130,000 – while others like UNICAL demanded ₦12,000 just to process refunds. NELFUND and NOA accuse the schools of “deceptive practices,” citing refusal to disclose disbursement records.
Students nationwide lament institutional fraud, with Taraba State University refunding only ₦57,000 of ₦120,000 fees and FUTA delaying reimbursements despite mandating 40% upfront payments. “UNN received the money from NELFUND and kept silent,” complained Malvin Okeke. Modibbo Adama University confirmed 300 affected cases but blamed system-wide verification delays, while YABATECH claimed CBN was still authenticating transfers.
While FUTA acknowledged duplicate payments and promised phased refunds, parents like Sunday Adedeji expressed frustration over unmet assurances. The scandal exposes systemic loopholes in Nigeria’s education financing, with institutions profiting from loan disbursements meant to alleviate student hardship.
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