Tinubu NELFUND Directive: President Redirects EFCC Funds, Unclaimed Dividends To Student Loan Scheme
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that liquid funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) be channelled to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to strengthen the financing of the Federal Government’s student loan scheme, alongside unclaimed dividends held in two separate trust funds.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja. “The President, in his benevolence, has now directed that all funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission be diverted to NELFUND to continue to support its funding,” the minister said.
Alausa said the council also approved the presidential directive for unclaimed dividends held under the Capital Market Trust Fund and the Dormant Account Trust Fund to be redirected to NELFUND, subject to the necessary legal processes. “This was also approved by FEC: that all unclaimed dividends from the Capital Market Trust Fund and the Dormant Account Trust Fund should also be directed to NELFUND, so that NELFUND will be financially buoyant to meet its growing obligations today,” he said. Unclaimed dividends are payments declared by companies but not collected by their shareholders, often due to outdated contact information, difficulties tracing beneficiaries, or other administrative problems.
Crucially, the minister clarified that the directive would apply specifically to liquid funds recovered by the EFCC rather than seized properties or contested assets. “Note, and the President was very clear, not seized properties, or recovered looted funds, but liquid funds, from the EFCC will now be transferred to NELFUND,” he said, explaining that the funds to be transferred would include only monies that are unencumbered and not subject to legal disputes or claims.
Alausa said President Tinubu directed the Ministers of Finance and the Attorney-General of the Federation, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Debt Management Office and other relevant agencies, to work out the modalities for transferring the funds. He added that the Attorney-General would work with the EFCC chairman to review the legal framework governing the relevant trust funds and determine how the recovered monies could be lawfully transferred to NELFUND.
The minister said the development would place NELFUND on a stronger financial footing as its obligations to Nigerian students continue to expand. He disclosed that more than 1.2 million Nigerian students are currently benefiting from NELFUND, while the agency has disbursed over N93 billion in stipends to students in public tertiary institutions across the country. NELFUND, he added, had also disbursed more than N250 billion in institutional fees to public tertiary institutions at both federal and state levels.
Alausa framed the directive as consistent with the President’s broader commitment to expanding access to tertiary education and ensuring that financial constraints do not prevent qualified Nigerian students from pursuing higher education, describing it as fulfilling a key campaign promise around sustainable student-loan financing. This is not the first time EFCC-linked funds have been directed toward the scheme; in July 2024, amid nationwide protests over economic hardship, Tinubu had similarly announced the release of an additional N50 billion from EFCC proceeds of crime for NELFUND, alongside another N50 billion for the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation.
As of the time of filing, the EFCC had not issued a separate statement responding to the directive, and no timeline had been given for when the modalities for the fund transfers would be finalised or when the first tranche of redirected funds might reach NELFUND.
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