Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has provided some explanations regarding the quest for the participation of students on part-time programmes as well as those in private institutions in the student loan programme.

Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, told journalists in Abuja, that first, the NELFUND establishment Act does not permit the involvement of such category of students in the scheme.

“And in addition to that, there are basic requirements that a student must meet to stand qualified for the scheme. Sadly, most students involved in part-time programmes don’t have such requirements that would help for proper authentication.

“And one of key requirements is that your admission must come from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). It’s a compulsory requirement, and sadly, many students in the part-time programmes don’t have it.

“This is because we have to validate the applicant, we have to verify if you are a student or not. Because anybody can come at any time and claim to be a student of any particular institution.”

Nevertheless, the NELFUND boss confirmed that plans are on to cover the interest of students in part-time programmes, as well as those in the private institution. “It’s something that will come in later years, because it will require some legislative actions.”

Meanwhile, the Executive Director, Operations, NELFUND, Mr. Mustapha Iyal, disclosed that data confirmed impressive rise in number of students applying for the loan in the past few years, indicating a growing trust and interest in the scheme.

“At NELFUND, we have a five-year plan running. But the figures from 2023/2024, and 2024/2025 applications indicated a significant increase of almost 40 per cent. In 2025/2026 cycle, we are looking at about 60 per cent increase in application. Hence, we have been making adequate budget for the expected surge. Significantly, this could be attributed to the massive awareness and campaign we created over the period.”

He also assured that students with outstanding payments of monthly upkeep (N20,000) will get the money as soon as possible, because all the challenges have been identified and fixed, and they would start getting their money in the shortest time.

He said: “we acknowledge the outbursts and concerns of the affected students. But we have done the necessary cleansing of the system to ensure timely and seamless disbursement of the upkeep now and going forward.”

He disclosed that following the conclusion of the 2024/2025 academic session, the team at NELFUND carried out a routine reconciliation of student upkeep payments, and the process revealed that 11,685 students have outstanding upkeep payments totalling N927.98 million.

“But let me be very clear. These are not cases of withheld funds or policy failure. Rather, they are the result of technical and operational issues, including temporary network downtime, failed transactions, and instances where bank account details could not be validated at the time of processing.

“But in line with the President’s directive on accountability and efficiency in public service, management has approved a one-time, focused reconciliation process to resolve all outstanding cases.

“Others include direct engagement with affected students, a defined grace period for updating or providing alternative bank account details, multi-layer validation involving IT, client support, audit, and finance teams, and prompt payment once validation is completed.

“Nevertheless, our objective is straightforward: every eligible student must receive what is due to him or her, accurately, transparently, and without delay,” he promised.

He also confirmed that some students in 2023/2024 batch have indicated interest in repaying the loan. “This is a good development for us because it provides us with additional money to meet the needs of others." (The Sun)