EFCC says FG funding student loan from 2024 largest single-year asset recovery since creation

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said the over N50 billion recovered from fraudsters in 2024 was among the funds invested into the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this information is based on the EFCC’s 2024 statistical report made available to reporters Sunday in Abuja.

Recall NELFUND was established through the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024, signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on April 3, last year.

The initiative is a programme established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to break financial barriers in higher education.

The anti-graft agency in its report described its activities in 2024 as its greatest achievements, especially its largest single-year asset recovery since its establishment in 2003.

The statistics indicated that the N50 billion granted to NELFUND by the Federal Government was sourced from the monetary recoveries of the EFCC.

“Such monetary recoveries include N364.6 billion; $214.51 million; 54,319 euro; 31,265 euro; Canadian dollar (CAD) $2,990 and Australian dollar (AUD) $740.00.

“Others are: the French franc (CFA) 7,821,375, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Dirham 170, Saudi Arabian 5,115 Riyals, Japanese W73,000,105 Yen, Ghana’s cedi (GH¢) 225 and South Africa’s 50,000 Rands,” it said.

According to the commission, some of the monetary recoveries have been reinvested by the Federal Government in initiatives that provide significant benefits to the Nigerian people.

The anti-graft agency attributed its success to the dedication of its officers and the enabling environment provided by management and stakeholders.

Again, the EFCC has said it secured 4,111 convictions in 2024 – its highest in its 22-year history.

An appraisal of the commission’s operations in the last 12 months shows that since January 2024, the EFCC recorded unprecedented volumes of, and breakthroughs in cases involving Advance Fee Fraud, Money Laundering, and Cybercrime, among others, across all its Zonal Directorates in the country.

These were from 15,724, petitions, 12,928 investigations, and 5,083 prosecutions.

Leading the pack is the Lagos Zonal Directorate with 685 convictions from 3,224 petitions, 2,454 cases investigated, and 786 cases filed in court.

This is followed by Enugu with 516 convictions from 545 cases prosecuted and Ibadan with 501 convictions from 786 prosecutions.

Others are Benin with 412 convictions, Ilorin with 230, Kaduna with 273, Gombe with 147, Kano with 148, Abuja with 140, Makurdi with161, Maiduguri 95, Port Harcourt 185, Sokoto 108 and Uyo with 220 convictions.