NELFUND Has Broken Financial Barriers for Nigerian Students — Reps Committee Chair
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NELFUND Has Broken Financial Barriers for Nigerian Students — Reps Committee Chair
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Student Loans, Scholarships and Higher Education Financing, Ifeoluwa Ehindero, has said the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND has significantly reduced financial barriers preventing many Nigerian youths from accessing higher education.
Ehindero stated this on Wednesday in Abuja during an interactive session with the executive members of the Association of Corporate Online Editors, ACOE who paid him a courtesy visit at his office.
The lawmaker said he was satisfied with the performance of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND since its establishment in 2024, describing the agency as a critical government intervention that had provided sustainable tuition support and upkeep stipends to eligible Nigerian students.
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According to him, the agency has received over one million applications and disbursed more than N116bn in institutional fees and stipends to students as of October 2025.
He said about 983,000 students had benefited from the scheme across more than 265 institutions nationwide.
Ehindero said, “I am quite satisfied with the overall performance of NELFUND. One has to understand that the agency is barely a year plus. NELFUND started in 2024 and today they have over a million applications and they have disbursed over N116bn in institutional fees and stipends to students as of October 2025, with about 983,000 beneficiaries.
“This is not a small feat. It is not easy to process applications across over 265 beneficiary institutions and verify nearly one million applicants in just a year.”
He also commended the Managing Director of NELFUND for working tirelessly to promote and ensure the success of the programme.
The lawmaker further praised President Bola Tinubu for supporting the initiative and ensuring that the agency is adequately funded.
Ehindero noted that the President’s commitment was evident in the recent tax reform, which allocated 15 per cent of the four per cent development levy to NELFUND.
He explained that under the arrangement, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund receives 50 per cent of the levy while NELFUND gets 15 per cent, a development he described as an improvement on the agency’s previous funding structure.
“The President has mandated that funds should always be available for NELFUND so that Nigerian students will not be stranded. That shows his commitment to education as a catalyst for national development,” he added.
However, the lawmaker said one of the major challenges facing the scheme was the management of funds by beneficiary institutions after disbursement.
He explained that while NELFUND’s role was to process applications and release funds to institutions on behalf of students, delays and administrative lapses by some schools had created problems.
Ehindero said the committee had intensified its oversight of institutions to ensure proper accountability.
He revealed that about 11 institutions had refunded funds to NELFUND following the committee’s intervention.
“Some institutions delay in administering the funds. While some have genuine reasons, others do not. Through our oversight activities, about 11 schools have refunded money to NELFUND, including one that returned about N266m,” he said.
The lawmaker also urged the fund to fully digitalise its disbursement process to enhance transparency and empower students to track payments.
He said a digital system that allows students to monitor disbursements through a dashboard linked to their school portals would help eliminate delays in course registration and prevent malpractice by institutions.
Ehindero added that the committee would continue to monitor the programme to ensure it achieves its objective of expanding access to higher education for Nigerian students.
