We are open to public scrutiny – NELFUND
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has assured the public and civil society organisations (CSOs) to feel free to scrutinise its activities whenever the need arises.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, gave the assurance during a visit to the Transparency International (TI) office.
A statement on the visit, signed by NELFUND Media and Public Relations Lead Nasir Ayitogo, was made available to newsmen on Friday in Abuja.
According to the statement, Sawyerr said at the meeting that NELFUND, under his watch, would not deviate from its sole mandate of giving as many loans as possible to Nigerians in need of them.
He assured that not a single kobo meant for students would go into private pockets.
“The ultimate objective of the government is to reduce frustration in our society and remove bad behaviour and all its ramifications resulting from forced idleness amongst youths.
“We want to enable people, through the loan, to get opportunities to have a chance in life, which only a few currently have.
“For all these to become successes, we have to keep our books open and make sure no money goes missing.
“Too make this happen, we call on Nigerians, particularly the CSOs, to checkmate our activities.
“We want to make sure we call those who can check our activities to prevent greed to please do so in the best interest of Nigerians,” he said
In a remark, the Executive Director of Operations at NELFUND, Mr. Mustapha Iyal, called for robust synergy between NELFUND and Transparency International, especially in terms of loan repayment.
He said that only when the loans were repaid would more students benefit in the future.
Also, the Executive Director in charge of Finance and Administration, Dr. Fredrick Akinfala, disclosed that NELFUND would be signing an MoU with Transparency International.
The Head of Transparency International in Nigeria, Auwal Rafsanjani, said the student loan would help in eliminating all forms of criminality in the country.
He applauded President Bola Tinubu for coming up with such an initiative while urging the National Assembly to give the Fund maximum legislative support.
Rafsanjani, who is also the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), also lauded Tinubu for the choice of management for NELFUND.
He expressed confidence that the right thing would be done by the Fund.
