The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) has successfully disbursed over N2.5 billion under its student loan scheme to significantly ease the financial burdens for students across the country.
NELFund’s media Head, Nasir Ayitogo, announced on Friday that the fund has disbursed N2,530,235,750 to the students.
The amount covers institutional fees and monthly stipends for 22,120 students, benefiting six institutions with active academic calendars.
He said an additional six institutions were set to receive payments in the coming week.
Ayitogo highlighted that a total of N442,400,000 has been allocated as upkeep allowances for applicants in July alone.
“NELFund believes that these disbursements will significantly ease the financial burdens on students and their families, enabling them to focus on their studies and future careers,” he stated.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the student loan policy, initially enacted by Tinubu in June 2023, aimed to provide interest-free loans to students.
Though the scheme was set to commence in October 2023, its implementation faced delays until April 2024.
NELFund launched its loan application portal on May 24, starting with a pilot phase for federal tertiary institutions.
The scheme was expand to state-owned tertiary institutions in its second phase.
As of mid-July, over 110,000 applications had been submitted, and more than 160,000 students registered on the NELFund portal, demonstrating the high demand and need for financial support.