The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced that students in tertiary institutions who have successfully applied for the Federal Government’s loan scheme and are starting new academic sessions will begin receiving credit alerts next week.
“The first batch of recipients, starting as early as next week, are those about to commence a new session in their institutions,” said Akintunde Sawyerr, NELFUND’s Managing Director, during an interview on Channels TV.
Other successful applicants will start receiving their funds upon the commencement of academic sessions in their respective institutions.
President Bola Tinubu formally launched NELFUND at the State House in Abuja, following which Sawyerr disclosed that 170,000 applicants from universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education have opened accounts with NELFUND. Out of these, 110,000 applicants have successfully completed the loan application process.
Sawyerr explained that there are two categories of beneficiaries: institutions receiving payments on behalf of students, and students receiving monthly stipends directly.
The disbursement was formally initiated at the State House on Wednesday. The aim of the program is to enhance Nigeria’s leadership in the future and improve the country’s socio-economic conditions.
“To date, about 110,000 students have successfully applied and been verified as eligible. Further verification will ensure they are fully qualified to receive the loans. Disbursement is set to begin next week for these students,” he stated.
Applicants are required to have their Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) registration numbers, matriculation numbers, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), and National Identification Numbers (NIN), among other requirements.
Sawyerr mentioned that the current expenditure for students is around N35 billion. He assured that there are sufficient funds available for disbursement, with additional funding expected. NELFUND receives 1% of the Federal Inland Revenue Service taxes and can also obtain funding from other sources.
