Beneficiaries of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) have expressed frustration over the organisation’s undue delays in the refund of paid tuition fees.

The students raised this concern in separate interviews with journalists on campus in Calabar on Tuesday.

The affected students, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised said that most beneficiaries for the fund had yet to get their refund.

This contradicts the university management’s claim that many students had already received refunds.

The worried students complained that the development had created confusion and frustration on campus.

According to them, those who borrowed money or made sacrifices to meet the tuition deadline, hoping to be reimbursed after the loan disbursement, are now stranded.

One of them said that as a result of the delay, affected students created a WhatsApp platform where refunds were announced by lucky beneficiaries.

He said that no beneficiary had publicly confirmed receiving any refund on the platform, despite unconfirmed reports that payments had been made.

“Up until now, nobody has come out to say they have received any refund, yet the school is saying that payments have been made,” he said.

He also questioned the relevance of the institution’s NELFUND Desk Officer, Elizabeth Effiwatt, who was reportedly a member of the communication platform.

“The desk officer is on the platform and sees everything happening there. If truly payments have been made, why has she not verified from students or addressed the complaints being raised on the platform?” the student stated.

Other students complained of difficulties in accessing the loan already disbursed to them for the payment of their tuition fees.

They said that while their loan dashboards indicated that funds for the 2025/2026 academic session had been disbursed, the university management had yet to officially acknowledge receipt of the payments.

“We can see on our portals that the money has been disbursed, but the school has not confirmed receiving anything.

“It is difficult to understand where the problem is coming from,” another student said.

Some students said they borrowed money from friends, relatives, and financial institutions to pay their fees early to meet their course registration deadlines.

“We rushed to pay because of registration deadlines, believing we would be refunded once NELFUND paid.

“It has been almost a year now, and nothing has come. We are still servicing the debts,” another student said.

They referred to statements allegedly made by the NELFUND desk officer indicating that the university management had already approved the refund process.

“The desk officer told us that the management had signed for the refunds.
 So, if that is the case, where is the money?” they asked.

The development calls for accountability, as the students demand an investigation into the refund process.

“We want a thorough investigation into this matter. Anyone found culpable should be held accountable and removed from office. The money belongs to students,” they said.

Meanwhile, the NELFUND desk officer appealed to the students for patience, saying that the “NELFUND refund is an ongoing process.”

Ms Effiwatt said that while payments had been concluded for some batches, others were being processed for payment.

She said that about 3,000 students had been refunded till date.

“We are doing this payment in batches, and the university has concluded those for batches one to eight, with nine and 10 already scheduled for disbursement.

“In fact, if not for hitches, that of nine would have been concluded, while that of 10 has been escalated to the university bursar.

“The students also need to understand that the issue of refunds is not something that will be concluded in one day. It is an ongoing thing, and this has been communicated to them through the WhatsApp channel created for this purpose,” Ms Effiwatt said. 

(NAN)