NELFUND Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, has explained why the Nigerian Education Loan Fund cannot pay institutional fees for new students before they complete their registration processes. Speaking in Abuja during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, he said the system was designed to prevent financial losses and ensure proper verification before any tuition payment is released.
Sawyerr stated that paying tuition fees for students who have not fully registered or matriculated could expose the government to significant risks. He noted that admission alone does not confirm that a student will proceed with the programme, and releasing funds too early could lead to wasteful spending. “If we pay fees for students who have not entered, what if they change their minds and don’t go to the schools anymore? We cannot just say because somebody has been admitted to a school, and we will pay the fees before registering or matriculating,” he said.
According to him, premature payment would mean disbursing funds without certainty of intention, a move he described as dangerous for public finance. “If we carry on like that, we could end up disbursing billions of naira, only to find out that they have dropped out, got admission to a school outside the country, gone to another school, or not doing that course again,” he explained.
He identified another challenge within the admission system itself. Many students applying for the loan require a matriculation number, but most institutions do not issue it until the student has completed registration and matriculation. To address this, NELFUND is discussing temporary alternatives with tertiary institutions. Sawyerr said the agency may allow students to use their Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board registration numbers while awaiting their matriculation numbers.
“There are many genuine students who have applied, and they need a matriculation number to be able to process their fees. The challenge is that they cannot get their matriculation number until they have matriculated, and they cannot matriculate until they have paid. We are trying to work with the schools to see how those who have registered can use their JAMB registration number as a substitute,” he explained.
Reflecting on the evolution of the Fund, the managing director noted that NELFUND faced several hurdles before it could begin full operations. Sawyerr recalled that the first law establishing the Fund, signed on June 12, 2023, had major weaknesses that limited student access. “One of the flaws was the requirement for a guarantor, which we saw as a difficult position to put students in. If you need a guarantor, it means that you need to go out and plead with somebody or pay somebody,” he said.
He added that the initial Act also placed income restrictions that automatically disqualified many households. “The second was that the 2023 Act stated that any family that had a household income in excess of N500,000 was not eligible. We all know that N500,000 is a very small amount of money for a household over a whole year. So, it meant that many people would not be able to apply for the loan,” he said.
Another gap in the old law was the lack of provisions for student upkeep, leaving beneficiaries without support for basic needs. Sawyerr explained that these limitations prompted President Bola Tinubu to push for a repeal of the law. A new Education Loan Act was drafted, passed, and officially launched in May 2024.
He said NELFUND has since operated efficiently despite high demand. “From May 2024, when we started, and now, we are delighted that, not for a single day has the site crashed, even as we received unanticipated high demand. We have been able to receive applications on a steady basis, process them, pay students and their institutions from what has been allocated to us,” he said.
Sawyerr thanked Tinubu for his role in strengthening the system, noting that the Fund has become a lifeline for thousands of students who might have abandoned their education.
