During a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Akintunde Sawyerr, the Managing Director of NELFUND revealed that in total 20,000 students at five public tertiary schools that sought for the loan had received N1.17 billion from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Sawyerr stated that NELFUND would continue to increase the number of beneficiaries depending on applications, and that one more institution would be added before the end of the day. He claims that the fund is currently considering the applications from a further 100 institutions.
“I am delighted to share that, following President Bola Tinubu’s directive, NELFUND has been able to disburse students’ institutional fees amounting to N1,172,388,340.00 for 20,000 students (100 per cent paid) in the institutions across the country.
“These institutions were carefully selected based on their academic calendar.
“Disbursement to other institutions will be made at the beginning of their sessions, to ensure a transparent and equitable distribution of resources,’’ he said.
According to Sawyerr, in exchange for receiving the loans, NELFUND would have to pay out an extra N850 million to several organizations.
Additionally, he said that 260,000 students had been given approval to pay maintenance loans and fees associated with their schools.
He said that the upkeep loan and institution charges for each student is N250,000 per annum. However, a student could apply less than the approved amount.
He said that not all students who took out an institution loan desired the maintenance loan, which was disbursed in installments based on the students’ actual need.
In response to a question about whether postgraduate students may receive the loans, Sawyerr stated that the fund’s mission is to support undergraduates who have the fewest opportunities.
“Our focus is on the undergraduate students. It is a fund that enables those who have the least opportunities to get education.
“While we acknowledge that there are students who will want to pursue their postgraduate studies, for now, our target is undergraduate students,’’ he said.
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