The Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFund) has clarified its decision to restrict the student loan scheme to public tertiary institutions, citing the need to manage limited financial resources effectively. According to NELFund’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, the aim is to ensure that vulnerable students, particularly those in public institutions with lower tuition fees, can access the available funds.
Sawyerr explained that public institutions house the majority of students in need, making it a priority to assist as many as possible. Although private institutions are excluded for now due to their higher fees, President Bola Tinubu has expressed the desire for the scheme to eventually include all Nigerian students.
The loan, which became law in 2023, covers institutional fees and provides a N20,000 monthly upkeep allowance. So far, NELFund has disbursed N10 billion to nearly 91,000 students in federal institutions, with an additional N92 billion planned for the next academic session.
Repayment of the loan is expected two years after students complete their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, with a 10 percent salary deduction once employed. Sawyerr also highlighted that most loan applications have come from northern Nigeria, where there is a higher concentration of public institutions.
