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NELFUND MD, Akintunde Sawyerr
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, on Thursday, said that as of January 1, 2025, it had disbursed about N116.18bn for the needs of students drawn from 176,252 beneficiary institutions across the country.
NELFUND is an initiative of President Bola Tinubu, aimed at breaking financial barriers in higher education through the provision of interest-free loans to needy students.
Speaking before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tetfund on Thursday in Abuja, the Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, said the agency got N58.4bn budget envelope for the 2025 fiscal year.
According to Mr Sawyerr, out of the N116.18bn, the sum of N37.7bn was spent on loans to institutions of learning.
He added that a total number of 352,796 students applied for the loan, while 108,484 were given.
“Out of the N58.4bn budgetary proposal for 2025, N12.2bn is earmarked for personnel cost, N24.7bn for overhead cost and N21.4bn for capital expenditure,” he explained.
After consideration of the budgetary proposals of the agency, the committee accordingly approved it through a voice vote administered to members by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions, and Tetfund, Sen Dandutse Muntari.
In his opening remarks, Muntari urged the agency to be prudent in its spending while emphasising the need for transparency in the running of the Fund.
“We will examine NELFUND’s financial plan for the upcoming fiscal year to evaluate its alignment with national educational goals and its capacity to meet the growing demands for student loans because the agency plays an indispensable role in bridging financial gaps for students across our tertiary institutions,” he said.
