The National Association of Polytechnic Students has issued a five-day ultimatum to the Nigeria Education Loan Fund, demanding a detailed breakdown of the disbursement of student loans.
This comes amid growing concerns over alleged irregularities in the student loan scheme, which has recently come under scrutiny.
The National Orientation Agency had earlier alleged that some institutions, in collaboration with banks, were making fraudulent deductions from student loan payments.
Last week, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission said its preliminary investigation revealed that while NELFUND disbursed N100bn for student loans, only N71bn has so far been accounted for.
These revelations have sparked widespread outrage.
On Monday, members of the National Association of Nigerian Students staged a protest, blocking the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to express their frustration over the alleged mismanagement of funds.
In a communiqué issued on Wednesday and signed by NAPS President Eshiofune Oghayan and Senate President Oyewumi Ayomide, the union warned that it would mobilise nationwide protests if NELFUND fails to publicly disclose how much was disbursed to polytechnic students.
“We are giving the NELFUND board a five-day ultimatum to release a detailed breakdown of the disbursement process—specific figures showing how polytechnic students have benefited,” the statement read.
The association also outlined its next steps should the fund fail to comply.
“These include organising mass protests involving 0.9% of Nigeria’s 28.1 million students, submitting petitions to the DSS and EFCC for a full-scale investigation, and pursuing all democratic means to seek justice,” the statement added.
