Dele Oye: Why FG Must Probe N373bn NELFUND Student Loan Disbursements

Says NEC’s 90-day economic recovery plan unachievable without clear targets Calls for urgent review of multiple taxes, levies Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Former national President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dele Oye, yesterday called for better clarity and accountability in the administration of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). Oye, who is the Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE), in a commentary on the federal government’s 90-day economic action plan, said this followed the announced disbursement of N372.62 billion in institutional fees and student upkeep allowances. The past Chairman Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN), said the scale of the disbursement underscored the need for clear service standards, transparent reporting and effective complaint-resolution mechanisms to ensure that beneficiaries receive the support they need on time. According to the NELFUND Student Loan Disbursement Report generated on October 3, 2026, he stated that the fund had disbursed N372.62 billion as of September 29, 2026, while processing 1,659,853 applications. While acknowledging the importance of the scheme, Oye said the amount disbursed should not be treated as the sole measure of its performance, stressing that the government must also demonstrate how efficiently the programme serves students. He called on NELFUND to publish service standards covering application decisions, institutional payments and upkeep transfers, alongside aggregated data showing approval and rejection rates and payment timelines. He also advocated a real-time application tracking system that would allow students to monitor the progress of their applications, as well as a transparent complaint-resolution channel with clear response and closure targets. Oye said the same principles should guide household support programmes, skills financing and small-enterprise credit, insisting that public assistance should be based on verified data, delivered directly to beneficiaries and reported through privacy-protected information. According to him, publishing measurable results would help Nigerians assess whether government interventions are translating into tangible improvements in their lives rather than remaining as figures in official announcements. Oye urged NELFUND to publish service standards for application decisions, institutional payments and upkeep transfers; show applicants a real-time status trail; publish aggregated approval, rejection and payment-time data; and operate a visible complaint-resolution channel with response and closure targets “Accessibility, timely payment, transparent eligibility and swift redress are not side notes. They are the bridge between a scheme on paper and a student who can actually plan a semester,” he explained. On the National Economic Council (NEC) 90-day economic action plan, Oye said the initiative was a welcome recognition of the country’s cost-of-living crisis but warned that its success would depend on clear targets, defined responsibilities and transparent implementation. The plan, endorsed by NEC on October 22, 2026, identifies five priority areas: food affordability, tax harmonisation, high-impact projects, investment bottlenecks and regulated household support. It also provides for a national dashboard to track projects and fuel-subsidy proceeds, while the government has identified reducing headline inflation and interest rates to single digits by 2027 as key policy objectives. However, Oye noted that the announcement did not provide a delivery matrix, public baselines, named delivery owners, itemised costs or milestone deadlines. He argued that without these details, Nigerians would struggle to determine what the government intends to achieve within the 90-day period or hold the responsible institutions accountable for missed targets. He called for a public performance dashboard showing baseline figures, targets, actual results, responsible institutions and the next steps for each commitment. The proposed dashboard, he said, should track food prices, transport fares, road repairs, regulatory charges, student loan payment performance, completed projects and the use of subsidy-related proceeds. Oye maintained that the success of the plan should ultimately be measured by improvements in household welfare, including more affordable food, lower transport costs and better conditions for businesses. The AERE chairman also called for an urgent review of the multiple taxes, fees and levies imposed on businesses by federal and state authorities, warning that overlapping charges and poorly justified regulatory costs could undermine enterprise growth. He urged federal and state regulators to publish their complete fee and levy schedules within 90 days, including the legal basis for each charge, the agencies authorised to collect them and their annual collection costs. Oye proposed the establishment of a public Regulatory Cost Register to identify charges that lack a clear legal basis and fees whose collection costs exceed the revenue they generate. He said such charges should be reviewed, while new levies should expire unless they are reauthorised based on evidence of public benefit. The objective, he explained, should not be to eliminate legitimate taxation or necessary regulation, but to remove unnecessary costs that place additional pressure on businesses and consumers. Oye also advocated simpler business registration procedures, a free tax-identification process, a single digital levy notice and an independent channel through which businesses could challenge questionable charges. He further called for coordinated, risk-based inspections, arguing that small businesses should not be shut down without written reasons and a fair opportunity to seek a review. He said reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens would help businesses operate more efficiently, support job creation and strengthen the formal economy. Oye urged the government to complement tax harmonisation with stronger revenue accountability, including the reconciliation of agency remittances, publication of tax waivers and recovery of verified outstanding debts. He maintained that the government should address revenue leakages and public-sector waste before demanding additional sacrifices from citizens already facing economic hardship. “A 90-day plan cannot be a motivational speaker in a ministerial folder. It must tell Nigerians what will change, who will make it change, how much it will cost, and what happens if it does not,” he pointed out. The AERE chief argued that all data must be verified, delivered directly and reported as aggregated, privacy-protected results by state and ward, and not distributed as political theatre, stressing that Nigerians need dignity, not a queue in the sun with a camera at the end of it. “The same standard belongs in public works. Publish a Sunk Cost Register for abandoned projects: original contract sum, amount paid, physical completion, contractor, remedial path and completion date. Finishing a useful road is generally wiser than launching a new signboard beside an old ruin,” he maintained.