The Presidency has clarified that beneficiaries of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) are not yet required to begin repayment of their student loans, urging Nigerians to ignore claims circulating online suggesting otherwise.
The clarification was made in a statement on Saturday by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Olusegun Dada, via his official X page. According to Dada, repayment obligations under the NELFUND scheme will only begin after a two-year moratorium following the completion of the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
“As it stands, the scheme will clock two years in March 2026 from the day the first applications were made, and not a single one of the applicants would have reached the repayment stage. Kindly discard any other information contrary to these,” Dada said.
He also shared a video message by the Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, who described the repayment framework as “seamless, transparent, and fair,” while addressing several concerns raised by prospective and current beneficiaries.
Sawyerr explained that the responsibility for loan repayment rests largely on the employers of graduates who benefited from the scheme, rather than on the beneficiaries themselves. He added that systems have been put in place to ensure compliance.
“We have a global standing instruction system in place to recover funds from defaulters attempting to evade repayment,” Sawyerr said.
Responding to fears that the loans could restrict movement, Sawyerr stated clearly that the NELFUND does not impose any form of travel ban on beneficiaries. He explained that the moratorium period was designed to give graduates time to stabilise after school and service.
“Two years is there because in your year of NYSC, you may not be able to look for a job. In the two years after, you have an opportunity to look for a job, settle down, rent a house, marry the love of your life, and all of that,” he said.
Sawyerr further clarified that repayment begins in the third year at a rate of 10 per cent of the beneficiary’s income, with employers expected to remit the funds directly. He noted that enforcement actions would target employers who fail to comply, except in cases where beneficiaries are self-employed.
“The fact you take a loan doesn’t mean you’re a slave to the government… People can travel wherever they want… If they’re earning money, they should send something back,” Sawyerr said added.
