Students to Begin Receiving NELFUND Loans Next Week, Says Managing Director

 

Students across tertiary institutions who have successfully applied for the Federal Government’s loan scheme will soon start receiving credit alerts, beginning next week, announced the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

In an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, monitored by Mega Icon Magazine, NELFUND Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr disclosed, “The people who are going to first receive alerts as early as next week are the people who are about to start a new session in the institution they are in.”

Sawyerr clarified that other successful applicants will receive their credit alerts once the academic sessions commence in their respective institutions.

The Managing Director’s comments came shortly after the launch of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) by President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja. Sawyerr reported that out of 170,000 applicants from universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, 110,000 have completed the necessary processes.

He detailed that there are two categories of beneficiaries: institutions receiving payments on behalf of successful applicants and the students themselves, who will receive a monthly stipend.

“A formal launch of the disbursement circle played out at the State House on Wednesday,” Sawyerr confirmed.

Highlighting the program’s objectives, Sawyerr emphasized its role in nurturing future leadership and enhancing Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape.

He further stated, “To be precise, about 110,000 students have successfully applied. They’ve put in their applications and verified as being bona fide and eligible applicants. But we’ll still carry out further verification to make sure they are well-qualified to receive these loans. But over 110,000 are likely to begin to receive disbursement from next week.”

Regarding eligibility requirements, Sawyerr outlined that applicants must possess Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) numbers, matric numbers, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), and National Identification Numbers (NIN), among other criteria.

“The current exposure to students is about N35 billion. We’ve got much more than that sitting in our accounts that we can disburse, and we’ve also got some funding on the way. Remember, we are getting 1% of Federal Inland Revenue Service taxes and we also can receive funding from other sources,” Sawyerr concluded.