The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, has called on tertiary institutions to refund students who were charged tuition fees despite already benefiting from federal student loans. Speaking at NELFUND’s first hybrid media engagement in Abuja, Sawyerr cautioned that schools failing to return the funds risk losing public trust and jeopardizing the future of the scheme.
He explained that the student loan program, launched on May 24, 2024, was urgently initiated by President Bola Tinubu to prevent thousands of students from dropping out due to financial hardship. The rapid rollout, he noted, did not align perfectly with school academic calendars, which led some students to pay fees themselves—often through borrowed money—before their schools later received the loan payments directly from NELFUND.
According to Sawyerr, some institutions have already refunded affected students, but many have yet to do so, causing added pressure on students already facing economic difficulties. He described this as unacceptable and stressed that institutions are duty-bound to either refund the students directly or return the excess funds to NELFUND for proper disbursement.
The issue has attracted the attention of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), after several student petitions and media investigations. Sawyerr confirmed that both NELFUND and various institutions have faced questioning.
He urged school authorities to act responsibly, saying, “There are students out there desperately trying to start their lives, and some institutions are making it harder for them. I appeal to all schools—do the right thing. Refund these students.”
Sawyerr also warned against false or sensational reporting that could damage the credibility of the program and discourage private-sector partners from investing in its future. He described the loan scheme as a national transformation project and pointed to the fund’s public transparency dashboard as proof of its commitment to accountability.
On future plans, NELFUND’s Executive Director of Operations, Mr. Muspaha Iyal, revealed ongoing collaboration with the Ministry of Education to support the rollout of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) initiative, which has already attracted close to one million applicants. While TVET support is currently grant-based, NELFUND plans to introduce loan options to sustain the program in the long term.
