The Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has revealed that although students in part-time programmes and private tertiary institutions are currently not covered by the federal student loan scheme, plans are already in place to include them in the future.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this in Abuja while speaking to journalists, explaining that the exclusion is based strictly on the provisions of the law establishing the Fund.
According to him, the NELFUND Establishment Act does not presently allow students in part-time programmes or those studying in private institutions to participate in the scheme.
He added that beyond the legal limitation, there are also basic eligibility conditions that applicants must meet, which many part-time students currently cannot satisfy.
Sawyerr explained that one of the most important requirements is admission through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which is compulsory for all applicants under the loan scheme.
He noted that many part-time students do not have JAMB-based admissions, making it difficult for the Fund to properly authenticate and verify their student status.
“And in addition to that, there are basic requirements that a student must meet to stand qualified for the scheme. Sadly, most students involved in part-time programmes don’t have such requirements that would help for proper authentication,” he said.
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He further stressed that verification is critical to prevent abuse of the scheme, as NELFUND must be able to confirm that every applicant is a genuine student before any disbursement is made.
“This is because we have to validate the applicant, we have to verify if you are a student or not. Because anybody can come at any time and claim to be a student of any particular institution,” he added.
Despite the current restriction, Sawyerr assured that NELFUND is already considering how to extend the scheme to cover part-time students and those in private institutions in the future.
However, he noted that such an expansion would require amendments to the existing law, meaning it is projected for later years rather than immediately.
“Nevertheless, plans are on to cover the interest of students in part-time programmes, as well as those in the private institution. It’s something that will come in later years, because it will require some legislative actions,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director, Operations, NELFUND, Mr Mustapha Iyal, disclosed that the number of students applying for the loan has continued to rise significantly, showing growing confidence in the scheme.
According to him, application data shows an increase of almost 40 per cent between the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 cycles, and the Fund is projecting about a 60 per cent increase in applications for the 2025/2026 academic session.
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He said NELFUND has made adequate budgetary provisions to handle the expected surge, attributing the growth largely to sustained awareness campaigns across the country.
Iyal also addressed complaints by some students over delays in the payment of the monthly N20,000 upkeep allowance, assuring that all outstanding payments will be settled.
He revealed that a reconciliation exercise after the 2024/2025 academic session showed that 11,685 students are owed a total of N927.98 million in unpaid upkeep allowances.
However, he clarified that the delays were not due to withheld funds or policy failure, but were caused by technical and operational issues such as network downtime, failed transactions, and unverified bank details.
He said management has approved a one-time reconciliation process that includes direct engagement with affected students, a grace period to update bank details, multiple levels of validation, and immediate payment once issues are resolved.
“Nevertheless, our objective is straightforward: every eligible student must receive what is due to him or her, accurately, transparently, and without delay,” he said.
He also disclosed that some beneficiaries from the 2023/2024 batch have already shown interest in starting to repay their loans, indicating growing confidence in the sustainability of the scheme.
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