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Tinubu Orders Recovered Loot, Unclaimed Dividends, ‘Dormant Funds’ Sent to NELFund
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President Bola Tinubu has directed that all cleared and unencumbered looted funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) be channeled to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) to strengthen the financing of tertiary education.
The President also directed that funds in the Unclaimed Dividends Trust Fund and the Dormant Accounts Trust Fund be mobilised for NELFund, subject to compliance with the laws establishing the two funds.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing journalists at the State House, Abuja, after the fourth Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of the year, presided over by President Tinubu.
Alausa, who described the decisions as a major boost for Nigerian students, clarified that the directive concerning EFCC recoveries applies strictly to liquid funds that have been legally recovered and are no longer subject to litigation.
He stressed that seized properties, assets, or funds still encumbered by court cases would not be transferred to NELFund.
According to him, the President directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, Ministry of Education, the Debt Management Office and other relevant agencies to work out the legal and operational frameworks for transferring the affected funds.
The Attorney-General, he added, would also work with the EFCC Chairman to identify recovered funds that are legally available for transfer.
“The President was very clear: not seized properties, all recovered looted funds, liquid funds recovered by the EFCC will now be transferred to NELFUND”, the minister said.
Alausa explained that the government would similarly examine the existing legislation governing the Unclaimed Dividends Trust Fund and Dormant Accounts Trust Fund to determine the appropriate legal steps required to make the resources available to NELFund.
He said President Tinubu insisted that only funds free of legal encumbrances would be affected by the directive.
“Every single fund that is still subject to a legal challenge will not be part of the money that will be transferred to NELFUND. The funds that will be transferred will be all cleared funds, unencumbered funds that were looted, funds that legally belonged to Nigeria, to Nigerians,” he said.
The minister said the President considered education one of the most productive uses for recovered public funds, especially as the administration seeks to build the human capital required to drive its ambition of growing Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy.
According to him, the decision is intended to put NELFund on a sustainable financial footing as demand for the student loan scheme continues to expand.
Alausa said more than 1.2 million Nigerian students are currently benefiting from NELFund, adding that the agency has disbursed more than N93 billion as upkeep allowances to students in Federal and State-owned public institutions.
He said more than N250 billion had also been disbursed as institutional fees to public tertiary institutions across the country.
“The education of our children cannot wait; it is of utmost importance to him, and he will do anything and everything to protect the future of every single Nigerian child, every single Nigerian student”, Alausa said of the President.
He described the student loan programme as fulfilment of one of Tinubu’s campaign promises to broaden access to tertiary education irrespective of students’ financial backgrounds.
The minister also addressed complaints about institutions withholding refunds from students who had already paid school fees before NELFund subsequently remitted their institutional charges.
He said the government had established a framework requiring institutions to refund affected students within a stipulated period, saying the widespread difficulties reported during the early stages of the scheme had been resolved.
According to him, any outstanding individual case brought to the ministry’s attention would be investigated.
Meanwhile, the FEC approved an augmentation of about N118.31 billion to complete the long-abandoned National Library of Nigeria headquarters complex in Abuja, as well as about N37 billion to furnish it.
Alausa said the National Library project, which commenced on April 29, 2006 and was originally scheduled for completion within two years, had remained abandoned since work stopped in October 2008.
He said President Tinubu had directed the ministry to mobilise resources to revive the project, including funding sourced through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
The minister also acknowledged the contribution of First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who had requested that gifts for her birthday be directed toward completing the National Library.
According to him, the initiative raised about N25 billion towards the project.
“The council today approved the augmentation of the existing contract for the completion of the construction of the National Library of Nigeria headquarters building complex in Abuja”, he said, adding that the government hoped construction would resume within the next few months.
Alausa said FEC also approved the establishment of the Nigerian Academy for the Gifted and Talented, which would emerge from the transformation of the existing Suleja Academy.
He explained that Suleja Academy was established to identify and nurture exceptionally gifted Nigerian children but had, over the years, operated largely like one of the Federal Government Colleges, preventing it from fully achieving its original mandate.
Under the proposed arrangement, the institution would become an autonomous academy with its own governing structure and diversified funding sources, including federal appropriation, endowments, and gifts.
According to the minister, the academy would identify gifted children across the country and provide an environment in which their abilities could be developed for innovation and national development.
FEC consequently approved the preparation of an executive bill by the Attorney-General of the Federation for transmission to the National Assembly to give legal effect to the transformation.
“We have to look for every single genius in this country and bring them in, nurture them, and let them help create the Nigeria of tomorrow,” Alausa said.
Council also approved the deployment and implementation of an Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Incubation Certification programme in selected Nigerian universities.
Alausa described the initiative as a technology-driven programme designed to equip university students with entrepreneurship, innovation, business incubation, enterprise development and digital skills, backed by certification, mentorship and incubation support.
He said the programme, which had already been tested at the University of Lagos, was designed to change the orientation of graduates from merely seeking employment to becoming entrepreneurs, innovators and job creators.
According to him, the programme will begin this year in 14 federal universities before being expanded to other tertiary institutions.
The initial participating institutions are: Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Bayero University, Kano; Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; University of Abuja; University of Benin; University of Ibadan; University of Ilorin; University of Jos; University of Lagos; University of Maiduguri; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; University of Port Harcourt; and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
Alausa said the approvals reflected the administration’s determination to position education at the centre of Nigeria’s economic transformation and ensure that young Nigerians acquire both academic knowledge and practical capabilities required to participate in the emerging economy.
He said President Tinubu has given the education ministry a clear mandate to ensure that every Nigerian child has access to education of a quality comparable with standards obtainable elsewhere in the world.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has denied saying the Federal government will introduce a fuel tax when the economy stabilises and income levels improve.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Oyedele said his remarks during an interview with ARISE News was misrepresented, insisting that a “fuel tax is not on the table.”
However, during the interview with Rotus Odiri, ARISE News Business Correspondent, on the sidelines of the 2026 International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Oyedele said the tax would come when income levels improve enough for Nigerians to accommodate it.
He said taxes account for between 20 and 80 percent of pump prices in some countries, while many African countries impose between six and 10 different taxes on fuel products.
He said introducing fuel tax while petrol was still subsidised would have been counterproductive because government would effectively be paying the tax itself.
According to him, imposing the tax immediately after removal of petrol subsidy would be insensitive to Nigerians.
“The objective should be that instead of trying to suppress prices, which hasn’t worked for us, it hasn’t worked for any country in the world, not one. Instead of trying to suppress prices, think about how to grow income faster than prices rise,” Oyedele said.
“That’s how you bring prosperity and grow the middle class and that is exactly what we are doing as led by Mr. President himself.
“At the appropriate time, when the economy has stabilizes and income level will be able to accommodate it, those taxes will come. Not because we want to impose taxes,” he added.
In his Tuesday post, the minister reiterated that introducing a fuel tax at this time would be insensitive following removal of petrol subsidy, describing reports that government will introduce the levy when the economy stabilises as “fake news.”
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Deputy Director of the Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Dele Momodu, has described former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the most nationally formidable and experienced among the leading contenders for the 2027 presidential election.
Momodu said Atiku’s experience at the national level distinguishes him from President Bola Tinubu and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi.
He stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, in Abeokuta.
“If you look at the antecedents of the three major candidates, between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, you will see that Atiku is the most experienced. He has managed our country at the highest level,” he said.
Momodu traced Atiku’s political journey to the 1992 Social Democratic Party (SDP), presidential primary where he contested against late MKO Abiola and stepped down for him.
He said Atiku accepted the outcome without crisis even after he was not picked as Abiola’s running mate, describing it as a mark of true democratic temperament.
“He is the only one who started from around 1992, contested the SDP primary against Abiola and stepped down with uncommon equanimity. He did not make any noise,” Momodu said.
He noted that Atiku was among the founders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and served as Vice-President from 1999 to 2007.
Comparing Atiku with Obi, Momodu argued that while Obi’s best was demonstrated in Anambra, Atiku’s was at the presidency level managing the national economy.
“Peter Obi has tried his best in Anambra, while Atiku’s best is at the level of vice president controlling the economy of Nigeria. The difference is clear. He has matured in experience and exposure,” he said.
Momodu also said President Tinubu’s experience was largely limited to Lagos.
“What I’m trying to say is that Tinubu’s experience was limited to Lagos, and that is why when he became president, he thought Nigeria was Lagos. And he has found out now that Nigeria is not Lagos,” he said.
He argued that the current economic hardship under the present administration did not show prosperity, insisting Atiku remained better positioned to lead the country.
“Well, we are yet to see that prosperity, and if yesterday would determine today and tomorrow, it is obvious that Tinubu should retire now and let someone else do it,” Momodu added.
DailyPost
President Bola Tinubu says he has no regrets over the removal of petrol subsidy and other economic reforms introduced by his administration, insisting that Nigeria could not borrow its way to greatness.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has warned Nigerians against returning to petrol subsidy. He said the backtrack could trigger capital flight, undermining investor confidence and pushing the Naira to N3,000, N3,500 or even N4,000 per dollar.
But the Director of Media and Publicity of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Kola Ologbondiyan, challenged Oyedele to publish the economic model behind his warning that a return to fuel subsidy could push the naira to N4,000 per dollar.
The President spoke on Monday during the City Boys Movement retreat in Abuja, where he charged members of the group to mobilise support for his administration ahead of the 2027 general elections, insisting that the country’s future mattered more than the ambition of any individual candidate.
“No regrets,” Tinubu said, insisting that his administration would not be pushed back from its reform agenda.
He took a swipe at his political opponents, promising to restore the petrol subsidy, saying Nigeria could no longer afford to pay the fuel subsidy, and warning that reversing the policy would take the country back to an unsustainable economic path.
Defending his decision to remove the subsidy on his first day in office, Tinubu said the country was on the verge of financial collapse and could no longer afford the policy’s cost.
Tinubu also sought to reassure Nigerians about the direction of the economy, arguing that growth was steady and that the sacrifices associated with his reforms would ultimately offer citizens a future worth believing in.
Oyedele disclosed during a press briefing of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday, that investors had repeatedly questioned whether the government would abandon its reforms ahead of the next election cycle.
Ruling out the reversal of the government’s economic reforms, he maintained that any signal that Tinubu’s administration was contemplating or reinstating the subsidy would immediately affect financial markets, raise borrowing costs and worsen economic pressures on households.
“In all the meetings I have had, I came to a conclusion that the markets, including the domestic market, which you can read from the capital market, and the international market, have largely written off the opposition in Nigeria as unserious.
“If, for any reason, the President were to say we are merely considering the return of fuel subsidy, capital would react immediately, airfares would struggle, the naira would come under severe pressure, potentially moving towards 3,000, 3,500 or even 4,000.
The very fuel people want subsidised would become far more expensive in Naira terms,” Oyedele warned.
However, Ologbondiyan accused the Federal government of using fear to discourage debate on fuel subsidy, insisting that Nigerians deserve evidence, not alarming projections, on the potential economic consequences of restoring the policy.
Speaking to journalists, he described the minister’s warning as scaremongering and demanded that the government explain how it arrived at the projected exchange rate.
“The Minister of Finance is merely scaremongering. He cannot claim that a return to fuel subsidy will cause the naira to depreciate to N4,000 to the dollar without showing Nigerians the model behind that projection,” he said.
He questioned the reliance on investors’ concerns to oppose a subsidy’s return, challenging the government to identify the sources of the projections and disclose their calculations.
