NELFUND defers launch of students’ loan portal

Says 117 failed to submit students’ data

Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has postponed the launch of the students’ loan portal initially billed for Tuesday, June 25, by two weeks. This followed the inability of state tertiary institutions to submit data on students to the agency.  

 
Specifically, the Fund revealed that 117 (77.5 per cent) of 151 state tertiary institutions expected to submit students’ data to the agency failed to do so. 
 
The Head, Media and Public Relations of NELFUND, Nasir Ayitogo, stated, yesterday, that only 34 state institutions submitted complete data of their students. 
 
“To date, only a limited number of state-owned institutions have completed the data submission process. These include 20 state universities out of 48; 12 state colleges out of 54 and two state polytechnics out of 49,” Aitogo said.  He said the application window, initially set to open on June 25, 2024, would open on July 10, 2024.  
 
Last week, The Guardian reported that the absence of digital records of students in most schools, as well as the lethargic response from most tertiary institutions, were slowing down the implementation of the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.  
 
The statement called on all state institutions to expedite their data submission processes and ensure the accuracy of the information provided. 

At a press conference last month, Managing Director/Chief Executive of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed that while students of federal tertiary institutions would access the portal on May 24, those in state schools would commence the process on June 25. 
 
The Fund said about 1.2 million students in public universities are set to benefit from the first phase of the programme, while sources told The Guardian that N35 billion had been earmarked for its take-off.