By Queen Kunde
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed over ?116 billion to support Nigerian students in higher institutions, while about ?266 million wrongly held by a beneficiary nstitution has been recovered, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee onStudent Loans, Scholarships and Higher Education Financing, Hon. Ifeoluwa Ehindero, has revealed.
Ehindero disclosed this in Abuja during an interactive session with executive members of the Association of Corporate Online Editors (ACOE) who paid him a courtesy visit to his office.
The lawmaker said the student loan scheme, established in 2024, has within a short period made a significant impact in breaking financial barriers to higher education for Nigerian youths.
According to him, nearly one million Nigerian students have already benefited from the programme, describing the achievement as remarkable for an agency that is barely a year old.
“I am quite satisfied with the overall performance of NELFUND. The agency is barely a year plus old, yet it has received over a million applications and has disbursed more than ?116 billion in institutional fees and stipends to about 983,000 beneficiaries as of October 2025,” he said.
Ehindero noted that processing such a huge volume of applications within a short period demonstrated the agency’s commitment and operational efficiency.
“These are not ghost applications. They are verifiable applications. To verify close to one million applicants and process them is not an easy task. At some point, the agency processed about 50,000 applications in a single week. That shows the level of work going on there,” he added.
The lawmaker also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for demonstrating strong commitment to the success of the programme by ensuring adequate funding for the agency.
He explained that under the recent tax reform framework, NELFUND now receives 15 percent of the 4 percent development levy, which he described as a major improvement in funding support.
“Compared to what NELFUND used to receive, this is a significant increment. It shows that the President is truly committed to the programme and to the education of Nigerian youths,” Ehindero said.
He added that the President had directed that the agency should never face funding shortages that could disrupt students’ access to the loan scheme.
“The President has mandated that funds must always be available so that Nigerian students will not get stuck in their education. That clearly shows his commitment to education as a catalyst for national development,” he said.
However, the committee chairman identified the management of disbursed funds by some beneficiary institutions as the major challenge facing the programme.
According to him, while NELFUND handles application processing and disbursement, the administration of funds by over 265 participating institutions has raised some concerns
“NELFUND disburses funds directly to institutions for students, but some schools delay verification or the proper application of the funds. That is where most of the issues we are seeing now are coming from,” he explained.
Ehindero said the committee’s oversight activities have already uncovered several irregularities and led to the recovery of funds.
“With our oversight, about 11 institutions have refunded money back to NELFUND. One particular school alone refunded about ?266 million, and there are still a few others we are investigating,” he revealed.
He assured that the committee would continue to pursue institutions involved in sharp practices until full accountability is achieved.
The lawmaker also called for full digitalisation of the disbursement system to enhance transparency and empower students to track their funds directly.
He explained that a digital dashboard linked to institutional portals would allow students to monitor payments and activate their course registration immediately once funds are disbursed.
“If the system is fully digitalised, students will have access to their dashboard. Once the funds are disbursed, they can activate the payment and proceed with course registration without delays from institutions,” he said.
Ehindero urged Nigerian students to take advantage of the loan scheme, describing it as one of the most significant education support initiatives introduced by the federal government in recent years.