…says only unencumbered recoveries affected

In a fresh move to boost the financial capacity of tertiary institutions, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday directed the anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to divert all cleared and recovered public funds insulated from litigation to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

He equally directed that funds in the Unclaimed Dividends Trust Fund and the Dormant Accounts Trust Fund should also be channelled to NELFUND.

Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed some of the resolutions of the Federal Executive Council while briefing journalists at the end of the meeting.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund was established by the present administration to mitigate financial challenges faced by indigent students in public institutions.

The Education Minister, who clarified that funds, properties and assets still encumbered by court cases would not be affected by the presidential directive, further declared that three ministers, the Director-General of the Debt Management Office and other relevant agencies had been directed to work out the legal and operational framework for transferring the affected funds.

They include the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Education and the Director-General of the Debt Management Office.

According to Alausa, the EFCC Chairman would also collaborate with the Attorney-General to identify recovered funds and ensure the seamless transfer of the legally available funds.

He said: “The President was very clear, not seized properties, all recovered looted funds, liquid funds, recovered by the EFCC will now be transferred to NELFUND.”

“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.”

The Education Minister told journalists that President Tinubu believed that education, being the bedrock of the economy, is central to his one-trillion-naira ambitious growth of the economy.

“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 also disclosed that a total sum of N170b was approved by FEC for the National Library Commission.

A breakdown of the fund revealed an augmentation of about N118.31 billion for the completion of the long-abandoned National Library of Nigeria headquarters complex in Abuja, as well as about N37 billion for its furnishing.

Alausa, who acknowledged the sum of N25b for the project from the Office of the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, also disclosed that funding would be sourced from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

The Council also approved the establishment of the Nigerian Academy for the Gifted and Talented.

The new Academy, he noted, would emerge from the transformation of the existing Suleja Academy.

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He said the Federal Government was determined to identify gifted children across the country and provide an environment to develop their latent abilities for innovation and national development.

“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.”

In a separate briefing, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, said the Council approved an amendment of existing legislation which criminalised attempted suicide.

The decision aimed to exempt people encountering psychological distress from prosecution and shift adequate attention to treatment, care and psychosocial support.

He disclosed that an Executive Bill would soon be sent to the National Assembly to put an end to provisions in existing statutes that treat attempted suicide as a criminal offence.

The Health Minister, who declared that suicide accounts for more than 7,000 deaths annually in Nigeria and 300,000 as a global figure, maintained that the existing provisions discourage people from seeking help and are inconsistent with the National Mental Health Act, which provides for treatment, protection and supportive care for people at risk of self-harm.

The Minister of Health also announced that the National Centre for Oral Health Establishment Bill 2026 would also be forwarded to the National Assembly.

He told journalists that once passed into law, the proposed legislation would offer a holistic legal and institutional framework for the centre to address the burden of oral diseases and related health conditions in Nigeria.

Still on FEC resolutions as they affect his Ministry, Pate disclosed that approval was given for the upgrade of National Hospital, Abuja.

He said the hospital, established 25 years ago, was in dire need of infrastructural and equipment investment.

Giving a breakdown of some of the approvals, Professor Pate revealed that a contract was awarded for a new administrative and management block at the National Hospital at a cost of about N18.74 billion.

The FEC also approved the sum of N64.92 billion for the construction of modular clinics and theatres for different medical specialties at the hospital.

Justifying the investment, the Health Minister said existing infrastructure at the National Hospital was no longer befitting of a major national referral institution in the Federal Capital Territory.

“We need a modern National Hospital here in Abuja, where Nigerians from all over the country can be served, but also folks here in Abuja and the Federal Capital Territory can have a befitting place to receive the services.”

Pate equally secured approval for the construction of a Neuroscience Institute at the hospital at a sum of N69 billion.