President Bola Tinubu has reaffirmed that funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will be channelled into the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), declaring that the decision cannot be reversed.

The President made the announcement on Friday, November 6, during a reception and the launch of the ARISE Palm Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Tinubu said the decision was part of his administration’s efforts to reduce the financial burden of education on parents and provide more Nigerians with opportunities to pursue higher education.

He said the government would use proceeds from the anti-corruption campaign to support the student loan programme, which provides financial assistance to eligible students in public tertiary institutions.

Explaining the decision, the President said education remained an important tool for tackling poverty and creating opportunities for younger generations.

“I feel your pain and share in the difficulty, and that’s why I decided to take away the responsibility of tuition fees from parents and equal opportunities for everyone who wants to read, taking education as the greatest weapon against poverty,” he said.

He added, “From today on, as we are fighting corruption, any money recovered by EFCC will be dumped into that education programme. It will be. No one can reverse it.”

The announcement reaffirmed an earlier directive issued by Tinubu in August, when he ordered that funds recovered by the EFCC be transferred to NELFUND to strengthen the financing of the student loan scheme.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, had disclosed the directive after a Federal Executive Council meeting, explaining that it applied to liquid funds recovered by the anti-graft agency rather than seized properties.

Alausa also announced that the council had approved the allocation of unclaimed dividends in the Capital Market Trust Fund and funds in the Dormant Account Trust Fund to NELFUND, subject to the necessary legal processes.

He clarified that recovered funds still subject to legal challenges would not be transferred until such issues were resolved.

The student loan scheme was established under the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act signed by Tinubu in 2024 to provide interest-free loans to eligible Nigerian students attending tertiary institutions.

The programme is designed to cover institutional fees and provide upkeep support, with beneficiaries expected to repay their loans under the conditions stipulated by the law.

Speaking in August, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede said the Federal Government had allocated N100bn from funds recovered by the commission to the student loan scheme since 2024.

Tinubu’s latest declaration underscores his administration’s intention to sustain the use of recovered public funds to support access to higher education.