The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has clarified that the N50 billion transferred to NELFUND was not a voluntary contribution from the commission.
News About Nigeria reports that President Bola Tinubu had instructed the release of the funds during his address on August 4, stating that the amount would be allocated to NELFUND and the Credit Corporation from the EFCC’s recovered crime proceeds.
Contrary to reports, the EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said that the funds were not a donation but rather a portion of the recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the government.
According to the EFCC’s statement, President Tinubu directed the funds towards the student loan scheme as part of his social intervention policy, aiming to support vulnerable populations.
The anti-graft agency said that it is not responsible for deciding how the government allocates recovered crime proceeds.
However, the commission acknowledged the student loan scheme’s potential to reduce youth involvement in criminal activities.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyde, assured that the commission would monitor the funds’ usage to ensure accountability and achieve the scheme’s objectives during a courtesy visit from NELFUND’s Managing Director on August 13, 2026.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in furtherance of his social intervention policy for the most vulnerable segments of the population, decided, in his wisdom, to plough the money into funding the critically acclaimed students loan scheme,” the statement reads.
“It is not the place of the Commission to determine where the government commits the recovered proceeds of crime.
“But the student loan scheme is a salutary innovation that has the potential to reduce youth involvement in criminality.
“As the Commission’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed during a courtesy visit to the Commission by the NELFUND’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr on August 13, 2026, the EFCC will monitor the use of the funds to ensure accountability and the realisation of the objectives of the Scheme.”
