…Says They Want To Malign The Institution
Olayiwola Matthew
The management of Yaba College of Technology has debunked reports of its involvement in illegal deductions and attendant exploitation of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund Scheme (NELFUND), NigeriaTodayTimes reports.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the institution, Mr. Adekunle Adams, stated this in a statement issued to the media on Friday, 2 May, 2025.
He said the college, that is known for excellence, diligence at implementing government policies, directives and passionate about students welfare is jolted on wrong allegation of being embroiled in students’ exploitation through the disbursement of students loans from NELFUND as widely reported in the media space and led by a report in Guardian newspaper of Tuesday, April 29, 2025, page 6.
According to him, it was reported that, “No fewer than 51 institutions have been fingered in illegal deductions and attendant exploitation of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme.
“The Guardian learnt that the errant institutions make between N3,500 and N30,000 off each student’s institutional fee that was submitted and received from NELFUND.
“NELFUND and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) had accused these institutions of engaging in “deceptive practices” by collecting institutional fees from the government without refunding the full value to students at the point of disbursement.
“They also accused the schools of a lack of transparency, for allegedly refusing to disclose disbursement records. The accused institutions include: Modibbo Adama University, Yola; Yaba College of Technology (YabaTech); Lagos State University of Education (LASUED)” amongst others.
Adams stated that the allegations that the college has refused to disclose that NELFUND had disbursed institutional fee, and yet, insisting that students should pay were not true.
He added that the allegations were false, saying it is an attempt to malign the name and image of the foremost institution.
According to him, the true position of things is that as at today the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not been able to trace the money in the bank statements of the college.
A high ranking officer of the college who was at the CBN, Wednesday, 30 April, 2025, for further enquiry and monitoring of the payment came with the report that “the officer that attended to me at CBN today checked through our bank statements but couldn’t find the inflow”.
Adams.explained further that, “it must also be noted that accounting procedures and processes must be duly followed in every financial transaction before payment could be made, which Yaba College of Technology is championing and will not compromise”.
Thus, the Public Relations Officer disclosed that the purported amount claimed paid to the college is under verification by the CBN.
He averred that, “it must be clearly stated that the institutionalized fees as claimed paid by the damaging report is yet to reflect in the account of the college while the list of the beneficiaries sent to the college is under verification, hence disbursement or refund cannot be done yet meaning that allegation of illegal deductions cannot be sustained.
“The college will, however, begin the payment of refund as appropriate, as soon as the payment hits the college account, and reconciled with the list of the beneficiaries as there must be cash backing for any payment to be made, Adams submitted.”
He added that the concerned students of the college should please exercise patience and allow due diligence to be carried out, as payment will be made as soon as the money hits the college account.