NELFund disburses N24bn to 293,000 students, institutions get N30bn – Newstrends
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NELFund disburses N24bn to 293,000 students, institutions get N30bn

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2 months ago

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Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr

NELFund disburses N24bn to 293,000 students, institutions get N30bn

The National Education Loan Fund (NELFund), yesterday, said it has disbursed a total of N24 billion to 293,000 students, and another N3O billion to 303 institutions nationwide, making a total of N54 billion, since the commencement of the scheme.

The NELFund Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, who stated this while briefing the House of Representatives Committee on NELFund said the beneficiaries are drawn from 303 government owned Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education.

Sawyerr explained that the Fund, since its inception has received a total of N203billion, out of which it disbursed N30 billion to tertiary institutions and N24 billion as student loan.

The MD, who expressed dismay over a recent statement by the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission ( ICPC), alleging discrepancies in disbursement of the student loan, said though the anti-graft agency has recanted, its claim has done severe damage to the Fund.

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The ICPC had last week said it has uncovered alleged discrepancies in the disbursement of the student loan, alleging that the Fund disbursed does not tally with the receipt..

Nonetheless, Sawyerr told lawmakers that , “NELFund has disbursed a total of approximately 54 billion naira. 54 billion naira has left the account of NELFund to go to pay for the loans that people have applied for. That 54 billion naira is split into two sections.

“30 billion of that, the naira I just talked about, the 54 billion, 30 billion has been paid to the 303 institutions that I just mentioned. 24 billion has been paid as upkeep, as pocket money or stipend to 293,000 students who are Nigerians studying at tertiary level in Nigerian government-owned institutions.

“54 billion has been disbursed in total from inception of the NELFund, and of that 54 billion, 30 has gone to institutional payments, and 24 billion, billions I’m talking about, has gone to pocket money, stipend, or upkeep, depending on the language we want to use. Representing direct beneficiaries of NELFund at 293,000. So far, NELFund has received 203 billion naira in the bank account that we hold at the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

NELFund disburses N24bn to 293,000 students, institutions get N30bn

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ASUU orders lecturers to begin nationwide strike over salary delay

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1 day ago

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July 8, 2025

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ASUU orders lecturers to begin nationwide strike over salary delay

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has directed all branches of the union nationwide to withdraw their services due to the delay in payment of its members’ June 2025 salaries.

ASUU said it was just enforcing the “No Pay, No Work” resolution.

ASUU branches at two federal universities, the University of Jos and the University of Abuja, have already begun strike action in response to the mandate.

President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, confirmed the development on Monday in Abuja.

He said the institutions were only enforcing the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) resolution that any month in which salaries are delayed by more than three days, members should withdraw their services until the salaries are paid.

Piwuna bemoaned government officials’ indifference to the issue of academics’ pay, which he described as low.

He added that since the transition of university employees from the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), union members had faced severe hardship as a result of salary delays.

He said that the union’s leadership attempted to contact relevant government officials, including the Minister of Education and the Accountant General of the Federation, but received no good response. As a result, the ASUU National Executive Committee decided to apply the “No Pay, No Work” policy.

He said, “What they are doing is just enforcing an NEC resolution. We have agreed at NEC that our members are going through a lot since our migration out of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System. Certainly, our salaries are delayed for a week and sometimes 10 days before our members receive the paltry amount we get to help us carry out our duties well.

“Therefore, we agreed that if there is no pay, there will be no work.”

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The ASUU president said all institutions that had not been paid were expected to withdraw their services, insisting that this was the resolution at NEC.

He stated that any institution that had not been paid would join the action because “we are tired of talking about this”.

“We have spoken to the relevant authorities—the minister is aware, the Office of the Accountant General is aware.”

Piwuna emphasised that the administration had no legitimate explanation for the delay in wage payments because the payment platform is functioning properly.

According to him, when the money finally reaches the colleges, no one has complained about being underpaid or not receiving their compensation.

“So, the platform through which the payment is effected has not been the problem. It’s just a deliberate effort by the Office of the Accountant General to delay the release of the funds.

“The platform is working well, but those who make it work are not willing to make it work. We think it’s a deliberate act; that is the point we are making,” the ASUU president added..

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He pointed out that the federal government was scheduled to pay academics ₦50 billion in overdue EAA but only released ₦40 billion, leaving a balance of ₦10 billion.

“On the EAA you talked about, the total amount was N50 billion, and what they gave to us is N40 billion. N10 billion is still outstanding. We hope that this is paid quickly so that we do not have to fight over it,” the ASUU president said.

Jurbe Molwus, chairman of the University of Jos branch of ASUU, said that union members at the university would quit their services, citing a delay in the payment of their June 2025 salary.

Molwus stated that this followed a National Executive Council resolution urging branches to take action if salaries are not paid by the third day of a new month, as well as a congressional affirmation of the position. He stated that union members had boycotted lectures and statutory meetings.

ASUU orders lecturers to begin nationwide strike over salary delay

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JAMB releases mop-up exam results

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2 days ago

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July 7, 2025

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JAMB releases mop-up exam results

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the results of its mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), held on Saturday, June 28, 2025.

In a statement issued on Sunday by JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the Board confirmed that results for 11,161 candidates who sat for the mop-up exam have been released out of the 96,838 who were scheduled to participate.

“Candidates who are not able to access their result have been found not to have fully complied with the instruction to send ‘UTMERESULT’ (as one word text) to 55019/66019 from the same phone number (SIM) with which they registered for the UTME,” the statement noted.

Meanwhile, JAMB also provided an update on the ongoing investigation into a fake admission letter syndicate, whose masterminds were arrested in 2024.

“You will recall that a joint press conference between the PPRO of the Nigeria Police Force and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board was convened on 13th April 2024. It was the outcome of the complaint of JAMB that a syndicate had engaged in the fabrication of JAMB-Admission Letters for interested candidates in exchange for a fee, following which a comprehensive investigation was launched.

“With the assistance of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), the police successfully apprehended the 5 ring-leaders behind the scam.

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“The five arrested ring-leaders, confessed to producing the fake admission letters and are currently being prosecuted at the FHC, Abuja in the case between Inspector General of Police Vs Effa Leonard and four (4) others. Following the confession from the syndicate, a total of 17,417 candidates were flagged as beneficiaries.”

The Board reported that between 2024 and May 2025, it had cleared 6,903 of those flagged candidates after they rectified minor discrepancies. The remaining 10,514 were referred to designated police investigation offices.

“Among the 10,514 candidates, 5,669 were confirmed to have outrightly procured forged letters while 4,832 candidates whose admission were then undisclosed to JAMB and who were being processed for condonement by their confessing institutions under a (2017-2020) ministerial waiver, impatiently engaged the syndicate to side-step the process.
“13 others were found to have been flagged due to one act of omission/commission or the other on the part of the candidates. 12 of the 13 candidates registered in 2017 when CAPS was established.”

JAMB revealed the institutions involved in these 13 cases include Bayero University Kano (BUK), Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri, Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Ekiti State University (EKSU), Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Olabisi Onabanjo University, Osun State Polytechnic Ire, Ben Idahosa University, Obong University, and the University of Ilorin.

“In continuation of the screening process, the management of the Board at its meeting on the 5th July, 2025 decided that the 13 candidates flagged through one act of commission/omission or the other on the candidates’ part, should be requested to rectify their specific anomalies and proceed to print their new letters of admission as they belong to the batch of 6,903 earlier condoned.

“In addition, a total of 1,532 candidates, whose essential defence (though difficult to believe) was that they were not party to the commissioning of the syndicate which helped facilitate their admission letters, are hereby warned and condoned because their institutions had eventually processed their condonement of initially undisclosed admission — a procedure the candidates initially attempted to side-step.”

JAMB confirmed that 3,300 candidates remain under investigation, as their institutions have not processed their admissions through the legitimate channels.

“The Board’s screening processes continue and any candidate found to have employed or solicited assistance from examination and certificate fraudsters or deviated from laid down procedures for registration, examination or admission would continue to face the consequences which include prosecution under the Examination Malpractices Act which prescribes appropriate punishment even for the under-aged and their culpable mentors, guardians or parents,” it added.

JAMB releases mop-up exam results

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6 countries that let you study and bring your family along

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3 days ago

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July 6, 2025

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6 countries that let you study and bring your family along

6 countries that let you study and bring your family along

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