Indications emerged on Wednesday in Abuja that the ongoing recruitment process at the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as the Federal Ministry of Education has denied any approval for recruitment of new workers for the agency.
A credible source at the Federal Ministry of Education described as false the claim in a national daily that the Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, is behind the delay in the resumption of new employees of NELFUND.
Scores of newly recruited NELFUND staff who received engagement letters in January 2025 remain stranded. The report by the national daily claimed that the Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, confirmed that this delay is due to an official directive from the Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, suspending the resumption process.
According to the report, the affected employees completed their required documentation by February 3, 2025, and have been awaiting further communication ever since.
A source who preferred anonymity, however, said: “I 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 schedule of duty.”
The ministry source states, “The report in the media that the Minister of Education’s directive delayed NELFUND employees’ resumption is not only false but also misleading.”
According to the source, the Board Chairman of NELFUND, Mr Jim Ovia, had halted the recruitment exercise even before the Minister’s knowledge of the recruitment process.
“Before the Honourable Minister became involved, the Executive Management team met with the Chairman, Mr Jim Ovia, in Lagos. At this meeting, the chairman halted the ongoing recruitment proceedings, declaring them unnecessary at the moment.
“The reason: 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 authorisation from the Managing Director (MD), their request was ignored,” the source said.
The source went further to state that “Despite objections from three senior officials, the MD proceeded independently, organising recruitment exercises and conducting documentation outside official channels”.
“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 said.
According to the source, “Subsequently, following the management’s latest visit to the minister’s office, the MD reportedly convened a private meeting with his close aides and vowed to proceed with the exercise.”
“For clarity and verification, I recommend reaching out to both the Board Secretary and the Executive Director of Operations. They can confirm the instructions given in Lagos regarding recruitment freezes and the staff rank review,” the source maintained.
According to the source, “The current status of NELFUND is alarming: approximately 80% 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.
“It is worth noting that intervention by the Honourable Minister has been instrumental in averting organisational collapse,” the source added.
