Federal Government of Nigeria Set To Pay ₦35,000,000,000 To Seventy Thousand Successful Student Loan Applicants
The Federal Government of Nigeria and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have concluded plans to pay out a total of ₦35,000,000,000 in fees and monthly upkeep allowances to seventy thousand applicants who are already successful in their student loan applications.
The successful student loan applicants, who are students of federal government-owned tertiary institutions across the country, were drawn from the pool of one hundred and twenty thousand applicants who sent in their student loan applications as of Friday, 21st June 2024.
Sources confirmed that the successful candidates can check their student loan portal on the NELFUND'S portal to know the status of their student loan applications.
Though the spokesman for NELFUND, Nasir Ayitogo, said he could neither confirm nor deny the information when contacted on phone for confirmation, other highly placed sources within NELFUND confirmed the development.
Mr Nasir Ayitogo, however, said NELFUND was working hard to fulfil its mandate of bringing smiles to the faces of indigent Nigerian students, who he said are eager to benefit from the student loan as approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The sources said each student loan applicant’s status is expected to show the processes of verification up till when approved or denied, and when the student loan are eventually disbursed.
Student loan distribution
According to multiple sources within NELFUND, the various student loan applicants will have their fees charged by their institutions paid directly into the institutions’ bank accounts.
The fees to be paid, according to these sources, will be the total of fees payable by students based on their courses of study which could include other sundry fees such as departmental levies, laboratory fees, and health insurance fees, among others.
One of the sources, who does not want to be quoted for lacking the authority to speak on the matter, said: “What is clear is that when the fees for these seventy thousand applicants were summed up, they amounted to ₦35,000,000,000 and this will be paid this week.
“The applicants will also receive a monthly allowance for their upkeep.”
The sources said the school fees will be paid to different institutions only at the beginning of the sessions, “so the funds wouldn’t be paid for all at the same time.”
₦20,000 monthly stipend
Sources have also confirmed that NELFUND has concluded plans to pay ₦20,000 every month to all the successful student loan applicants for every year of their studentship.
“This amount will total ₦240,000 per year, but to be qualified in the next year, the applicant will have to reapply because it is a refundable loan and not a gift,” another source said.
The source clarified that whether the beneficiaries’ schools are in session or not, the ₦20,000 upkeep allowance will be paid every month to allow for their upkeep even while at home.
More student loan applications being evaluated
Meanwhile, the sources confirmed that a total of fifty thousand additional student loan applications are already currently being evaluated for possible consideration, noting that NELFUND receives an average of one hundred and fifty student loan applications per day.
“These fifty thousand applications for the second batch of the applicants from the federal institutions that are currently being reviewed. As soon as the verifications of their details, including their studentship, and details of guarantors, among others, are confirmed, their fees will be paid, and allowances forwarded to them.”
Student loan portal to open for state-owned institutions
NELFUND had earlier confirmed that student loan applicants from tertiary institutions owned by the state governments across the thirty six states of the federation will be onboarded beginning from Tuesday, 25 June while also announcing that it would publish the full list of institutions that have submitted their complete students’ information for the Student Verification System (SVS) portal on 24th June 2024.
NELFUND announced this on its X handle in a statement signed by Mr Nasir Ayitogo, who said the list will comprise both state and federal institutions “to ensure transparency and to encourage due access and participation in the scheme, of both undergraduate applicants and tertiary institutions in this critical exercise.”
“It is commendable that many federal institutions have already completed the exercise having been the first wave, whilst the process of uploading the data to NELFUND SVS is currently ongoing for the state-owned institutions,” the statement noted.
NELFUND said for student loan applicants to access the student loan, the individual’s details must feature in the information set sent by the institution to the NELFUND SVS, where it claims automatic applicant verification can take place seamlessly.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND)
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) was created by the Access to Higher Education Act, which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed.
NELFUND is tasked with handling all student loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery of the student loans.
NELFUND is being funded from multiple streams and will engage in other productive activities. NELFUND will also be funded through donations, gifts, grants, endowments, and revenue accruing to the fund from any other source, according to the Act.
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