The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced that more than N322 billion has been disbursed to over 1.6 million students nationwide as the Federal Government moves to strengthen the funding of its student loan scheme.
The development comes after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed that eligible liquid funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) be channelled to NELFUND to support the growing demand for student financing.
The Fund also welcomed the Federal Executive Council’s approval for unclaimed dividends from the Capital Market Trust Fund and the Dormant Account Trust Fund to be directed towards NELFUND.
The latest intervention is expected to provide additional resources for the rapidly expanding programme, which was established to reduce financial barriers to tertiary education.
NELFUND Chairman, Jim Ovia, expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for his continued backing of the scheme, saying the development reinforces the administration’s commitment to making higher education more accessible and financially sustainable.
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The Fund’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Akintunde Sawyerr, also commended the President for supporting efforts to ensure that financial difficulties do not prevent qualified Nigerians from pursuing higher education.
“NELFUND deeply appreciates His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for this significant intervention and for his unwavering commitment to ensuring that no Nigerian student is denied access to higher education because of financial constraints,” Sawyerr said.
He added that the decision demonstrated the President’s belief in the transformative role of education and would strengthen efforts to build a sustainable student financing system.
Sawyerr assured Nigerians that resources entrusted to NELFUND would be deployed responsibly and transparently in the interest of beneficiaries.
The Director of Strategic Communications at NELFUND, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, said the additional funding would further strengthen the Federal Government’s drive towards sustainable education financing and enable the Fund to reach more eligible students.
NELFUND’s expansion has been rapid since the student loan scheme was launched in 2024. By early August 2026, the Fund had reported disbursements of about N303.91 billion to 1.63 million students, with tuition payments made directly to tertiary institutions and upkeep allowances paid to beneficiaries.
The EFCC has also previously provided significant support to NELFUND through recovered proceeds of crime. In August 2024, the commission transferred N50 billion in recovered funds to the education financing scheme, while EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede has continued to advocate the use of recovered proceeds for programmes that directly benefit Nigerians.
In August 2026, Olukoyede further disclosed that President Tinubu had approved N50 billion from the EFCC’s Proceeds of Crime Account for NELFUND and the Consumer Credit Corporation, Creditcorp.
The latest funding arrangements therefore represent another step towards expanding the student loan programme and reducing the financial burden associated with tuition and living expenses for students in public tertiary institutions.
The Federal Government has presented NELFUND as a major component of its education reform agenda, with the scheme designed to ensure that financial hardship does not become a barrier to accessing higher education.
With beneficiary numbers and disbursements continuing to rise, the sustainability, transparency and effective management of the Fund are expected to remain central to the success of Nigeria’s student financing programme.
