Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) To Disburse Student Loan Within 30 Days Of Approval

Applicants for the student loan will have their student loan disbursed within 30 days of approval of successful applications.

This is even as the much awaited student loan scheme started yesterday.

The student loan website (www.nelf.gov.ng), which went live at yesterday, is expected to benefit 1,200,000 students from Federal Government-owned universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and technical colleges in the first phase of the student loan scheme, while those of state-owned tertiary institutions will be announced soon.

The development comes as the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has accused “several tertiary institutions” of failing to submit information of students to NELFUND to enable them apply for the student loan.

In a Frequently Asked Questions posted on the NELFUND official X handle yesterday, it was disclosed that part-time students and Direct Entry students without JAMB Numbers are ineligible to apply for the student loan.

While disclosing that the zero interest loan is open to new and existing full-time students in tertiary institutions, the agency said applicants for the student loan are required to input specific personal details that include name of institution of study, admission number, JAMB Number, Date of Birth, National Identity Number (NIN) as well as Bank Verification Number (BVN).

Applicants for the student loan are also expected to upload scanned admission letters for new students as well as student identification cards.

The new agency also clarified that no fee is required before the disbursements of the student loan.

“All full-time students are eligible for the loan but only applicants will benefit from the loan.

“NELFUND will disburse within 30 days of approval of successful applications,” it said.

On how the student loan repayment process works, NELFUND said: “Ten per cent of the beneficiary’s salary will be deducted at source by the employer. Self-employed beneficiaries are required to remit 10 per cent of their monthly profit to the Fund.

“You are at liberty to seek to repay beyond the statutory 10 per cent monthly repayment by your employers/by self if you are self-employed.”

At a Pre-Application Sensitisation Press Conference in Abuja on Monday, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Fund, Akintinde Sawyerr, had disclosed that one of the key features of the student loan is absence of physical contact between the student loan applicant and the Fund.

According to Akintinde Sawyerr, the student loan portal provides a user-friendly interface for students to submit their student loan applications conveniently.

Akintinde Sawyerr said only students whose institutions have completed and uploaded their students’ information on the student loan website would be eligible to apply for the student loan.

Akintinde Sawyerr, however, refused to reveal the number of institutions yet to submit students’ information, insisting that he would not engage in naming and shaming.

Meanwhile, the NANS has accused ‘several tertiary institutions’ of failing to submit information of students to NELFUND to enable them (students) apply for the student loan.

NANS President, Lucky Emonefe, made the allegation in a memo to all Students’ Union Government (SUG) Presidents, Chairmen of NANS Joint Campus Council as well as Zonal Coordinators of the association.

Lucky Emonefe called on the students’ leaders to prevail on the respective management of their institutions to comply with NELFUND directives, pointing out that any tertiary institution that fails to submit their students’ data to the Fund would be excluded from accessing the student loan.

Lucky Emonefe said: “Following a meeting with the management of NELFUND, we have been made aware that several federal universities are yet to submit their students’ data. This is hindering the processing of the Students’ Loan scheme in various ways.

“NELFUND management has hereby requested that the NANS urge the Vice Chancellors of these federal universities to comply with NELFUND’s directives and promptly submit their students’ data for upload on the NELFUND platform. This will enable the loan processing to commence as soon as possible.

“Please note that any federal university that fails to submit its data may be excluded from accessing the loan and NELFUND will not be held responsible.

“We urge all students’ union presidents and other student leaders, particularly those from federal universities to ensure that their school managements have submitted the necessary data to NELFUND. This will guarantee that no university is left out of the Students’ Loan scheme.”

https://guardian.ng/news/nelfund-to-disburse-students-loan-within-30-days-of-approval/