Students Starting New Session to Receive Payments Next Week – Loan Fund Chief

Students of tertiary institutions who have successfully applied for the Federal Government’s loan scheme and are starting new academic sessions will begin receiving credit alerts from next week, NELFUND announced.

“The people who will first receive alerts as early as next week are those about to start a new session at their institutions,” NELFUND Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

He noted that other successful applicants will receive credit alerts when their academic sessions commence.

Sawyerr’s comments came after President Bola Tinubu launched the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) at the State House in Abuja. He mentioned that 170,000 applicants from universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education have accounts with NELFUND, with 110,000 having completed the application process.

There are two types of beneficiaries: the institutions, which will be paid on behalf of successful applicants, and the students themselves, who will receive monthly stipends.

“A formal launch of the disbursement cycle occurred at the State House on Wednesday,” Sawyerr said, emphasizing that the program aims to provide Nigeria with better future leadership and improve the country’s socio-economic situation.

“About 110,000 students have successfully applied, and their applications have been verified as bona fide and eligible. We will carry out further verification to ensure they qualify to receive these loans. Over 110,000 are likely to begin receiving disbursements from next week,” he added.

He clarified that getting approval for the loan is one step, but receiving the funds is another. The loan targets those starting or continuing their education.

Applicants must have Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) numbers, matriculation numbers, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), and National Identification Numbers (NIN), among other requirements.

“Current exposure to students is about N35bn. We have much more than that sitting in our accounts ready for disbursement, and additional funding is on the way. We receive 1% of Federal Inland Revenue Service taxes and can also obtain funding from other sources,” Sawyerr explained.