The special committee overseeing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has held its inaugural meeting in readiness for the rollout of the programme on Monday, February 26, 2024.

The meeting was chaired by the Governor of the Central Bank, Olayemi Cardoso, who is also the chairman of the special committee.

The 11-member committee comprises the chairman, representatives of the ministries, departments and agencies as stipulated in the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act 2023, and the Executive Secretary of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, who is the secretary of the special committee.

The statutory members of the committee are as follows:

i. Governor of the Central Bank – chair of the special committee

ii. Executive Secretary of the Fund – secretary of the special committee.

iii. Representative of the Minister of Education

iv. Representative of the Minister of Finance

v. Chairman, National Universities Commission

vi. Representative of Vice Chancellors’ Forum

vii. Representative of Rectors and Provost Forum

viii. The Auditor General of the Federation

ix. Representative of the Nigeria Labour Congress

x. Representative of the Nigerian Bar Association

xi. Representative of Academic Staff Union of Universities, (who have written to decline membership of the committee)

Mr Cardoso charged the committee members to use their diverse skills to ensure the success of the programme, which is one of President Bola Tinubu’s signature projects. He said the ongoing engagement of various stakeholders must intensify in order to achieve a hitch-free rollout of the scheme.

The Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act 2023 was signed into law by President Tinubu on June 12, 2023. The Act creates a legal framework for granting loans to indigent or low-income Nigerians to facilitate the payment of their tuition fees.

The primary objective of the act is to foster the accessibility of higher education for Nigerian students. President Tinubu has asked that the scheme be extended to cover Nigerians undergoing vocational training.

Mr Cardoso pledged his commitment and support towards the success of the programme and praised the commitment of the President to the scheme that will reduce the burden of funding the education of Nigerian students.

With the inaugural meeting of all legal parties to the scheme, the stage is now set for the final rollout of the Fund.

ABOUT NELFUND

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) is the creation of the Access to Higher Education Act 2023.

The act, popularly known as the Students Loan Law, seeks to provide loans for indigent Nigerian students to pay fees in any Nigerian tertiary institution.

NELFUND is the body created by the Act to handle all loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery of the loans provided.

The Fund, according to the Act, is to be funded from multiple streams and will engage in other productive activities.

It will also be funded through donations, gifts, grants, endowments, and revenue accruing to the fund from any other source, according to the Act.