YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE in this piece, looks at the legal provisions backing the use of crime proceeds in the face of the windfall given to the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP).
During a national address amid widespread protests over hunger, President Bola Tinubu, on August 4, announced the allocation of N50 billion each to the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP).
These funds, totalling N100 billion, were sourced from crime proceeds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Tinubu emphasised the administration’s commitment to youth and education, but his message was overshadowed by the protests, drawing significant attention only later, when the EFCC confirmed the release of the funds.
The President stated, “Our administration has shown its commitment to the youth by setting up the student loan scheme. To date, N45.6 billion has already been processed for payment to students and their respective institutions. I encourage more of our vibrant youth population to take advantage of this opportunity.
“We established the Consumer Credit Corporation with over N200 billion to help Nigerians acquire essential products without the need for immediate cash payments, making life easier for millions of households. This will consequently reduce corruption and eliminate cash and opaque transactions.
“This week, I ordered the release of an additional N50 billion naira each for NELFUND – the student loan and Credit Corporation from the proceeds of crime recovered by the EFCC.”
Following the presidential order, the anti-graft agency, on August 13, announced that it had released N50bn to support NELFUND, during a courtesy visit by the Fund’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Akintunde Sawyerr, to the anti-graft agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
Sawyerr had stated “We are aware of the funds from the proceeds of crime extended to NELFUND. We are here to express our gratitude for the gesture. We also want the EFCC to exercise oversight on what we are doing. Youths constitute the most populous, restive but neglected segment of our population. President Tinubu identified this as a major problem and put in place a major solution to address the issue.”
Before this paradigm shift, the primary sources of funding for NELFUND brought about by the revised Student Loan Act 2024 to ease financial burden and make education more accessible to all Nigerian students include a percentage of taxes, levies and duties collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), amounting to one percent of their total revenues.
Also, the fund was expected to receive contributions from the profits generated by the government’s natural resource exploitation, education bonds, endowment fund schemes and donations from individuals and organisations.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who commended the president for the initiative, described it as a “policy issue against crimes,” adding that the lack of parents’ educational support is a contributing factor to children’s involvement in financial crimes.
“One of the main incentives for cybercrimes is the inability of parents to fund the education of their children. NELFUND is a policy issue against crimes. President Tinubu should be commended for initiating the Fund,” he said while advising the NELFUND management team to ensure transparency in their dealings to assist in the fight against corruption.
“Let your hands be clean. I repeat, let your hands be clean. The work entrusted to you is going to help the EFCC fight corruption. Let your systems and processes be transparent. I will fight to ensure that money pooled together to support NELFUND is not re-looted. We want your management to be giving reports of your disbursement to the EFCC. Don’t sign what is not clear to you. Don’t give in to any pressure. Let your staff know that there is no money to share,” Olukoyede had warned.
Some Nigerians, however, queried the legality of the EFCC as an agency to legally disburse money from the loot it recovered to fund another government intervention.
Clarifying that the fund was disbursed from the proceeds remitted to the government, the EFCC said, “It wishes to clarify the reports in a section of the media today, August 14, purporting that the commission donated N50 billion to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund from its recovery account. The said fund was not a donation by the commission but part of the recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the government.
“President 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 student loan scheme.
“It is not the place of the commission to determine where the government commits recovered proceeds of crime. But the student’s loan scheme is a salutary innovation which has the potential to reduce youth involvement in criminality.”
Recovered crime proceeds
In its efforts to fight corruption and recover the government’s stolen assets, the EFCC has made some landmark recoveries. Recently, the chairman disclosed that the commission secured 3,175 convictions and recovered N156.28 billion in one year of President Tinubu’s administration.
A breakdown of EFCC activities and recoveries revealed that the commission in the year under review received 15,753 petitions, investigated 12,287 cases, filed 5,376 cases in court and secured 3,451 convictions and monetary recoveries in the sum of N231,623,186,004.74, $70,260,544.18, £29,264.50 €208,297.10, ₹51,360.00, C$3,950.00, A$740.00, R35,000.00, 42,390.00 UAE Dirhams, 247.00 Riyals and ¥74,754.00.
‘Agency has not erred’
Speaking on the legality of the disbursement, Chief Yomi Alliyu (SAN) stated that based on the provisions of Section 31(3) of the EFCC Act, which states that the commission shall pay all the money it receives as proceeds of crime into the Consolidated Fund, one could easily conclude that the commission has no power to make gift since money from this Fund can only be appropriated vide an Appropriation Bill.
He, however, added that “a close perusal of the Act leaves holes for such acts like donation of its fund to organisations. S.1 of the Act gives the commission legal personality meaning that it can do everything that a human being can do, including giving gifts. S.1 (2) makes it clear that the commission has the power to dispose of both its movable and immovable property. Thus, one can conclude, albeit not on terra firma, that the commission can make donations as it did.”
A social commentator, Bimbo Amos, stated that aside from the fact that proceeds from crime recovered by EFCC have to go to the government to disburse; there is no reason people should raise eyebrows that money looted is being used for the benefit of the masses, adding that the said fund was public money that is going back to the public.
“The problem with the country especially under this democratic setting is that we always suspect everything and scream the rule of law. The same rule of law allows criminals to evade justice. I am not saying the rule of law shouldn’t be respected but let us also think deeply and ask questions before attacking any policy.
“The fund recovered by EFCC is recovered on behalf of the government and if the owner, the government, decides to use it, we cannot question their power. And in this situation, it is for a project that will benefit the masses.
“The idea of student loans is not a strange one, even in developed countries. It is a project that will turn many lives around. So, morally, the government using stolen money that was recovered by an agency saddled with that responsibility to touch lives is not wrong. What should concern us is how the agency that got the money will use it judiciously, so it won’t be looted all over,” he added.
A former chairman of NBA Ikeja, Dave Ajetomobi, on his part, stated that it is true that the EFCC only has the power to recover money, not to spend it and their expenses must be within the budgetary allocation.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), in a statement signed by its Senate President, Babatunde Akinteye, expressed profound gratitude to the EFCC for the N50 billion added to resources of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, adding that it “is not only a reflection of the EFCC’s dedication to combating financial crimes, but also a demonstration of its commitment to the future of Nigerian students, who are the leaders of tomorrow.
“In a country where the cost of education continues to rise, many students face significant financial barriers that prevent them from achieving their academic aspirations. The introduction and bolstering of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund through this substantial donation will provide a much-needed lifeline for countless students across the nation.
“This initiative will enable them to access the education they rightfully deserve, empowering them to contribute meaningfully to society.
“I am using this medium to call on other government agencies, private organisations, and well-meaning Nigerians to emulate the EFCC example by contributing to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. Together, we can ensure that no Nigerian student is left behind due to financial difficulties,” he added.
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