Sources at the Federal Ministry of Education have dismissed reports alleging that the Minister of Education is responsible for delaying the resumption of newly recruited employees of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), describing the claims as false and misleading.
The sources told our correspondent that there was no approved recruitment exercise for NELFUND, insisting that the agency is already overstaffed and unable to accommodate additional personnel.
“We can authoritatively state that there is no approval for any recruitment exercise in the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as the agency is overstaffed with many personnel without office spaces and a schedule of duty,” one of the sources said.
The source further dismissed media reports suggesting that the minister’s directive stalled the resumption of newly recruited staff.
“The report in the media that the Honourable Minister of Education’s directive delayed NELFUND employees’ resumption is not only false but misleading,” the source said.
According to the ministry source, concerns over the recruitment process predated the minister’s involvement.
The source explained that the Executive Management team had met with the Chairman of the NELFUND Board, Mr. Jim Ovia, in Lagos, where the chairman reportedly halted the ongoing recruitment process after discovering that it lacked the necessary approvals.
“At the meeting, the Chairman halted the ongoing recruitment proceedings, declaring them unnecessary at the moment. The reason was that there had been no approval from the board, nor had management formally reviewed or discussed any recruitment plans. When the three executive directors requested evidence of proper authorization from the Managing Director (MD), their request was ignored,” the source said.
The ministry source further alleged that despite objections raised by three senior officials, the Managing Director proceeded with the recruitment process independently.
“Despite objections from three senior officials, the MD proceeded independently, organising recruitment exercises and conducting documentation outside official channels,” the source alleged.
According to the source, the board chairman subsequently directed that individuals recruited through the disputed process should not be placed on the organisation’s payroll pending a review.
“The Chairman clearly instructed that those already recruited through this process should not be added to the organisation’s payroll. In the same meeting, he also ordered a comprehensive review of staff ranks to ensure transparency and compliance with organisational protocols,” the source added.
The source also alleged that after a subsequent visit by the management team to the Minister of Education’s office, the Managing Director convened a private meeting with close aides and indicated his intention to proceed with the recruitment exercise.
The ministry source urged independent verification of the claims by contacting the Board Secretary and the Executive Director of Operations, saying they could confirm the directives issued during the Lagos meeting concerning the recruitment freeze and staff rank review.
The source further painted a grim picture of the agency’s staffing situation, claiming that a significant proportion of NELFUND employees currently have no defined responsibilities.
“The current status of NELFUND is alarming: approximately 80 per cent of the workforce is redundant. This issue was unanimously acknowledged at our recent management meeting, where all four key leaders agreed urgent action is required to resolve the redundancy crisis. At this stage, we simply cannot afford to increase staffing,” the source said.
The source maintained that the Minister of Education’s intervention had helped prevent further deterioration of the situation within the agency.
“It is worth noting that intervention by the Honourable Minister has been instrumental in averting organisational collapse,” the source stated.
NELFUND had not publicly responded to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.