He, however, said that delayed refunds to students who paid fees before NELFUND disbursements reflected weak institutional accountability, adding that schools had an ethical obligation to refund affected students promptly. Akanwa said that the decision was to ensure that students who made early payments were not denied the benefit of the federal loan scheme. “The university remains committed to transparency in implementing the students’ loan scheme while delivering on the progress and objectives of the institution,” he said. A beneficiary, Mr. Patrick Kalu, hailed the loan scheme, saying it prevented many students from dropping out of the university. “We need to find a way to reassure the students that NELFUND is working very well so that they can be less skeptical.