The Federal Government has dismissed as false reports suggesting that students who benefitted from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have been directed to begin immediate repayment of their loans.
The Presidency, reacting to the claims on Saturday, said the reports were misleading and inconsistent with the clear provisions guiding the student loan scheme introduced by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
A presidential media aide, Mr Olusegun Dada, urged Nigerians to ignore what he described as unfounded rumours, stressing that no beneficiary has reached the repayment stage under the programme.
According to him, repayment is structured to commence only after a two-year moratorium following the completion of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), a condition that remains unchanged since the scheme was launched.
“The student loan repayment will not begin until two years after NYSC completion. The scheme itself will be two years old in March 2026 from when the first applications were submitted. As of today, none of the beneficiaries qualifies for repayment,” Dada stated.
He added that any information suggesting otherwise should be treated with caution, assuring that the administration has not altered the terms of the initiative.
The clarification comes amid heightened public debate over the sustainability of the student loan policy, which is designed to widen access to tertiary education and reduce the financial burden on Nigerian families.
Meanwhile, the Acting Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, has disclosed that the agency has so far disbursed about N174 billion to over 800,000 students across 263 tertiary institutions nationwide.
