The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed more than ₦161.97 billion to tertiary institutions and students across the country, covering tuition fees and upkeep allowances for 864,798 students.
Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr revealed the figures while updating the public on the student loan scheme, noting that NELFUND has received 1.36 million applications through its portal.
Sawyerr disclosed that the agency is reconciling ₦927.98 million in outstanding upkeep payments affecting 11,685 students. The delays, he said, resulted from technical and operational challenges—including network downtime, failed transactions, and difficulties verifying some students’ bank account details not withheld funds or policy failures.
“Our routine reconciliation revealed 11,685 students have outstanding upkeep payments totaling ₦927.98 million. These are due to technical and operational issues, not policy failures or withheld funds,” Sawyerr said.
To resolve the backlog, NELFUND will implement a one-time focused reconciliation process, including direct engagement with affected students, a grace period for updating bank details, and multi-layer verification by its IT, client support, audit, and finance teams. Payments will be released promptly once verification is complete.
Breaking down disbursements, Sawyerr said ₦89.94 billion was paid directly to 263 tertiary institutions for tuition and institutional fees, while ₦72.03 billion was disbursed to students as upkeep allowances.
He emphasised that the scheme reflects President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to ensuring that financial constraints do not prevent Nigerians from accessing education. The ₦20,000 monthly upkeep allowance, he said, has helped reduce dropout rates and ease students’ financial burdens.
NELFUND also plans to expand sensitisation efforts to parents, guardians, traditional rulers, and faith-based institutions to increase trust and awareness at the grassroots.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of Operations, Mustapha Iyal, stated that 325 institutions have been onboarded for the 2025/2026 academic session, with about 3.73 million eligible students. He noted that 283,275 applications have been verified, with ₦12.5 billion already disbursed to 117,640 beneficiaries. Upkeep payments for the current session will commence in January, and students are reminded to apply each session to remain eligible.
