By Kwin Israel, The Sight News
Sources in the Federal Ministry of Education have debunked reports alleging that the Minister of Education is responsible for delaying the resumption of newly recruited staff at the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), insisting that no approval was granted for the recruitment exercise because the agency is already burdened with excess personnel.
The sources described as “entirely false and misleading” media reports suggesting that a directive from the Minister stalled the resumption of the new employees, maintaining that the recruitment process lacked the requisite approvals from both the Board and the agency’s management.
“There is no approval for any recruitment exercise in NELFUND,” one of the ministry sources said. “The organisation is already overstaffed, with many employees having neither designated office spaces nor clearly defined schedules of duty.”
According to the sources, the controversy surrounding the recruitment began long before the Minister became involved.
They disclosed that the Executive Management of NELFUND had earlier met with Chairman of the Board, Jim Ovia, in Lagos, where the recruitment exercise was reportedly suspended after it was discovered that it had neither been approved by the Board nor formally considered by management.
“At that meeting, the Chairman made it clear that the recruitment exercise was unnecessary at this time because there was no Board approval and management had neither deliberated on nor endorsed any recruitment plan,” the source stated.
The sources further alleged that when the agency’s three Executive Directors requested documentary evidence authorising the recruitment from the Managing Director, none was provided.
Despite objections from the Executive Directors, the Managing Director allegedly proceeded with the exercise, organising recruitment documentation and related processes outside the agency’s established administrative procedures.
“The Chairman subsequently directed that individuals recruited through the disputed process should not be placed on the organisation’s payroll. He also ordered a comprehensive review of staff grades and structures to promote transparency, accountability and compliance with due process,” the source added.
The ministry officials further claimed that following a subsequent meeting between NELFUND’s management and the Minister of Education, the Managing Director allegedly held a private meeting with some of his aides and expressed his determination to continue with the recruitment exercise.
For verification, the sources advised that enquiries be directed to the Board Secretary and the Executive Director of Operations, whom they said could confirm the resolutions reached at the Lagos meeting, including the suspension of the recruitment exercise and the directive for a comprehensive staff audit.
The sources also raised concerns about what they described as the agency’s current staffing profile.
“The situation in NELFUND is alarming. About 80 per cent of the workforce is currently redundant. This was a unanimous position reached at our recent management meeting, where all four principal officers agreed that the organisation’s immediate priority should be addressing the redundancy challenge rather than recruiting additional staff,” one of the officials said.
The sources maintained that the Minister’s intervention was intended to uphold due process and protect the integrity of the institution, insisting that his actions helped prevent what they described as a looming administrative crisis rather than delaying any legitimate recruitment process.
