The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it has disbursed ₦161.97 billion to 864,798 students since the introduction of its student loan scheme, as part of efforts to widen access to higher education.
Speaking at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the Managing Director, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, said the fund had received more than 1.36 million applications from students across Nigeria.
He explained that ₦89.94 billion of the total amount was paid directly to 263 tertiary institutions for tuition and institutional fees, while ₦72.03 billion was disbursed to students to support their upkeep.
Mr Sawyerr described the initiative as a flagship programme under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at removing financial barriers that prevent young Nigerians from pursuing tertiary education.
He said the impact of the scheme was already evident, with thousands of students able to remain in school and families relieved of the burden of education costs.
The NELFUND boss said the agency had spent the past year engaging with tertiary institutions nationwide to raise awareness of the scheme, adding that outreach would now be extended to parents, guardians, traditional institutions and faith-based organisations.
Addressing concerns over unpaid upkeep allowances, Mr Sawyerr disclosed that 11,685 students were affected by outstanding payments totalling ₦927.98 million following the 2024/2025 academic session. He said the delays stemmed from technical issues such as network failures and incorrect bank details, not from a lack of funds.
Also speaking, NELFUND’s Executive Director of Operations, Mr Mustapha Iyal, said the outstanding cases represented a small fraction of beneficiaries and that verification with institutions was ongoing. He noted that feedback had been received from more than 100 institutions and that payments would begin shortly.
Mr Iyal added that applications for the 2025/2026 academic session opened in November 2025, with about 280,000 applications received so far and loans already disbursed to over 150,000 students. He confirmed that loan repayment had commenced, with graduates who had secured employment beginning to repay their loans.
