The Nigeria Education Loan Fund will receive ₦242 billion drawn from unclaimed dividends and cash recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the federal government confirmed. President Bola Tinubu made the approval during the fourth meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Education Tunji Alausa told State House journalists.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Nigeria, pegs unclaimed dividends at about N242 billion. That pool has expanded from N158.4 billion in 2019 and N190 billion in 2023, a growth the SEC attributes to outdated shareholder records, estate administration issues for deceased relatives, and missing bank account links.
BusinessDay checks show the EFCC has recovered in excess of N566 billion and $411 million in monetary assets. Alausa said the presidential directive applies only to cash recovered by the EFCC, it does not include non-cash assets held by enforcement agencies.
To move the policy toward implementation, the president instructed Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, to work with the Education Ministry to remove any legal or administrative bottlenecks that could block the transfer. That coordination is the next formal step in converting recovered funds and unclaimed dividends into disbursable loans under NELFund.
At the same FEC meeting, ministers authorised the resumption of work on the abandoned national library in Abuja and approved release of funds, including N25 billion realised from the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu’s birthday fundraising on her 65th birthday. The twin approvals link asset recovery and dormant corporate funds to specific federal spending priorities.
The shifts reallocate dormant private sums and recovered government cash into a public lending programme for students, while leaving non-cash EFCC holdings intact. Implementation will depend on the legal review the Attorney General and Education Ministry now have to complete, and on administrative fixes that will let eligible borrowers access the NELFund capital.
