The National Association of Nigerian Students, through its national leadership, has raised concerns over alleged irregularities in the handling of student fee data submitted under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme, following claims of inflated figures involving D.S. Adegbenro Polytechnic, Itori, Ogun State.
The allegations were made public by the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, who accused the institution’s management of discrepancies between approved school charges and figures uploaded to the federal loan portal.
According to the student leader, while the institution officially charges N236,000 for Higher National Diploma (HND 1) students, a higher figure of N350,000 was allegedly uploaded to the NELFUND platform.
He also claimed that National Diploma (ND II) students who are charged N152,000 were recorded as paying N330,000 on the system.
The claims have sparked renewed debate around transparency in the implementation of President Bola Tinubu’s student loan initiative, which was designed to improve access to higher education funding for Nigerian students.
The student leader, while addressing the issue, described the alleged discrepancies as deeply concerning and called for urgent scrutiny of the data submission process.
He further called for an investigation into the role of the institution’s management, specifically naming the Rector of D.S. Adegbenro Polytechnic, Itori, Dr Rauf Adegoke, in relation to the alleged discrepancies.
The allegations have not yet been independently verified, and no formal response had been issued by the institution or Dr Adegoke as of the time of filing this report.
However, the claims have intensified scrutiny on the NELFUND framework, which relies heavily on accurate institutional data to determine loan eligibility and disbursement levels for students across federal and state tertiary institutions.
Education stakeholders note that while the initiative has been widely praised as a transformative step in easing financial pressure on students, its success depends on strict compliance, accurate reporting and transparent oversight by participating institutions.
The development has also reignited calls for stronger auditing mechanisms to prevent data manipulation, with observers warning that inconsistencies could undermine public trust in the programme.
The National Association of Nigerian Students is expected to continue monitoring the situation as calls grow for regulatory agencies to intervene and verify institutional submissions across participating schools.
Ibrahim Onipede is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
