President Bola Ahmed Tinubu don order say all liquid assets wey Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recover, plus unclaimed dividends from Capital Market Trust Fund and Unclaimed Dividend Trust Fund, should go inside Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, make this known after Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last week.
Alausa yarn say e no be seized properties or recovered looted funds wey dem go transfer. Na liquid cash from EFCC go move go NELFUND. Over the years, EFCC don recover about N566 billion and $411 million for monetary assets. But di minister say di approval na only cash wey dey ready, no be property or other non-liquid assets wey dem seize.
According to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), unclaimed dividends for Nigeria don reach about N242 billion. E grow from N158.4 billion for 2019 go N190 billion for 2023. Di reason na outdated shareholder records, unresolved estate matters for deceased investors, and missing bank account linkages, among other things.
Di Capital Market Trust Fund and Unclaimed Funds (Dividends) Trust Fund wey Finance Act 2020 create, na im authorise to gather all unclaimed dividends from public quoted companies for Nigeria Exchange and unutilised balances for bank accounts wey no dey active for at least six years. Dis pool go now go NELFUND, and e go help di fund sustain as e dey take care of many students.
Speaking to press correspondents last week, Tunji Alausa talk say: “Today, we have over 1.2 million Nigerian students benefitting from NELFUND, and NELFUND has disbursed over N93bn as stipends to students all across public institutions in the country, both federal and state.” He go on say: “NELFUND has also disbursed over N250bn as institutional fees to all public institutions across the country, both federal and state.”
NELFUND don really help students, parents, and universities. For students, e dey easy say dem fit access stipends for basic needs. Parents wey no fit pay school fees before, now dey happy say dem pikin go still school. With regular fee payment, tertiary institutions dey get financial stability and better chance to plan.
President don direct Minister of Justice to liaise with EFCC and develop legal framework wey go actualise di plan as approved by FEC. Di framework need to be transparent and open for public scrutiny. For the past, there don be concern about how dem manage recovered funds. Some people accuse say those wey recover di money dey re-loot am, wey dem coin as ‘re-looting the loot’.
So dis decision by Tinubu administration to channel recovered funds go NELFUND na good move. Di idle funds wey dey lie for unclaimed dividends, wey owner fit never show up, go now dey put to good use for education. Di funding don help stabilise industrial peace for tertiary institutions, and e important say dem cement NELFUND sources of funding.
