THE Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said students of federal tertiary institutions will be the first beneficiaries to access loans as the scheme takes off on Friday, May 24.
NELFUND’s managing director and chief executive officer Akintunde Sawyerr disclosed this on Monday, May 20, at a pre-application sensitisation press conference held in Abuja.
He urged students of federal universities to visit the NELFUND website at www.nelf.gov.ng from Friday, to begin application for the loans, early enough to hasten the processing.
“The loan application process has been streamlined to ensure easy access for all eligible students in federal tertiary institutions. Applicants can access online support to assist with any questions or concerns during the application process,” he said.
Sawyerr said the requirements for the application are the national identity number (NIN), bank verification number (BVN), Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) admission letter, and a properly filled application form on its website.
The loan will be paid directly into the institution’s account and the students will receive monthly stipends for upkeep.
“And that will be paid at the maximum of that fee per session. We will only pay for a session at a time. Because people drop out of institutions, they change institutions,” he further said.
President Bola Tinubu signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, into law for the second time on Wednesday, April 3.
Tinubu first signed the bill into law in June 2023 to enable students in need to access interest-free loans to pursue their education in any tertiary institution in the country.
However, its implementation was postponed, and during the postponement, Sawyer had said he could not give a specific date for its commencement.
Unlike the initial bill that was passed and subsequently repealed, the new Act removed the provision that required applicants’ families to earn an annual income of less than N500,000 before they could be eligible for the loan.
It also allows applicants to access loans that cover other fees aside from tuition, unlike the previous Act that limited applications to just tuition.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.