The Managing Director of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, has assured that all eligible beneficiaries of the federal education loan scheme will be allowed to sit for examinations, despite ongoing verification delays reported by some tertiary institutions. In an interview with ARISE News on Tuesday, Sawyerr emphasized that student welfare is a priority for NELFUND, addressing concerns that some final-year students were barred from exams even after their tuition fees were reportedly covered by the fund.
Sawyerr clarified that the initiative, established by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, aims to eliminate financial barriers to tertiary education through interest-free loans with flexible repayment options. “We started the scheme to provide students with loans—interest-free loans, with very, very soft terms—to ensure that the situation we’ve had in this country for so long, where many cannot commence tertiary education or are forced to drop out due to lack of funds, is addressed,” he stated.
In discussing the challenges faced by NELFUND, Sawyerr acknowledged that while the agency is committed to expediting loan disbursement, government funding necessitates strict adherence to institutional processes to prevent misappropriation. “Because these systems require proper processes when you’re disbursing government funds, it is important that we use the processes we’ve designed and approved,” he noted.
Addressing Verification Issues
To date, NELFUND has disbursed funds to 265 tertiary institutions across the country, with approximately 1.5 million applications currently being processed. Sawyerr explained that varying institutional calendars pose operational challenges. “Students apply when they choose to apply—we don’t enforce an application date. Universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education all set their own registration and examination dates, which differ across the country.”
Regarding specific verification delays, particularly at LAUTECH, Sawyerr stated that institutions must confirm beneficiary lists before funds can be released. “There is a verification process which we conduct. We batch applications by institution and send them to the institutions for verification. In the case of LAUTECH, over 12,000 students had to be verified and sent back to us,” he explained.
He acknowledged that the programme’s success has led to its increased complexity. “The more successful we are in bringing institutions on board and students on board, the more complex it gets. So we are in the game of catch-up,” he said.
Collaboration with Institutions
Sawyerr indicated that NELFUND has been negotiating with institutions to allow affected students to sit for examinations while verification and payment processes are finalized. “What we’ve been able to do is negotiate very ably with many institutions to say, if the students applied late or verification was delayed, please allow the students to write their exams,” he stated.
When questioned about potential communication failures with institutions such as UNIBEN and LAUTECH, Sawyerr firmly rejected the notion. “No, absolutely none of that. As I explained earlier, there are multiple deadlines and applications. It’s never going to be perfectly in sync,” he said, emphasizing that NELFUND is in constant communication with all institutions regarding student welfare and fees.
Sawyerr also revealed that institutions are becoming increasingly cooperative, reassured that payments will eventually be made. “The institutions are now somewhat assured that the payment will come, so they are very amenable,” he noted. He mentioned a surge in new applications, stating that in the last 24 hours alone, NELFUND received approximately 8,000 applications.
In concluding his remarks, Sawyerr reiterated NELFUND’s commitment to transparency and accountability. “What we are here to do is to ensure that students who have the capacity and desire to remain in school can stay until they graduate and have access to education,” he affirmed.
