The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that he personally proposed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that recovered proceeds of corruption be used to fund the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFund).
Speaking during a media appearance on Channels Television, Olukoyede explained that the idea was born out of concerns about rising youth involvement in cybercrime, which he linked to financial hardship and lack of access to education.
According to him, many young people engaged in internet fraud were driven by limited opportunities and inability to fund their education.
I approached Mr. President and we agreed on two things. Sir, you have passed the NELFund law, but there is no money for NELFund to take off, he said.
Olukoyede added that his experience with arrested cybercrime suspects influenced his thinking, as many of them reportedly cited financial difficulty as their motivation.
I have a crop of hundreds of students who are into cybercrime, and upon doing my research, I discovered why they went into it. This is because many of them could not afford to train themselves properly through school. Legitimate needs were driving them to illegitimate solutions, he explained.
He said he then proposed that part of the funds recovered by the EFCC be redirected to support education financing.
So I said, ‘Sir, I have some money in my recovery account. Why don’t you take part of it, about a hundred billion, and invest it in NELFund?’ he stated.
Olukoyede noted that President Tinubu approved the proposal, leading to the allocation of funds split equally between two initiatives—₦50 billion to NELFund and another ₦50 billion to the Credit Corporation.
He further revealed that within a year of implementation, the NELFund programme has supported approximately 1.3 million students in paying their school fees.
According to him, the development demonstrates how recovered proceeds of corruption can be repurposed into meaningful social investment, particularly in addressing the root causes of financial crime among young people…..See More
Leave a Reply