The management of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has clarified on the reports circulating online suggesting that the launch of the most-anticipated students loan scheme, initially scheduled for today, Thursday, March 14, 2024, has been postponed indefinitely.
A statement by Nasir Ayitogo on behalf of Akintunde Sawyer, the executive secretary of NELFUND, admitted that there has been a postponement.
He, however, disclosed that the postponement was not indefinite, as alluded to in the reports.
The statement recalled that Mr Sawyerr, in a television interview on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, had disclosed that the postponement was necessitated because of the need to have all stakeholders fully aligned before the formal flag-off by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“For the avoidance of doubt, NELFUND is 100 per cent set for the launch. The loan application portal is ready, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has since approved the funds for the smooth take-off.
“Students are advised to seize the opportunity and apply for the loans as soon as it is launched at a date to be determined by the President,” the statement stressed.
In June 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed a bill to establish a Students Loan Fund that would provide interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education.
The bill, sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, was initially scheduled to commence between September and October 2023.
President Tinubu announced that the scheme would commence in January 2024 after his government failed to meet the October deadline the previous year.
In January, Yusuf Sununu, the Minister of State for Education, announced during a meeting that preparations for the program had been completed. This included the development of the Student Loan Scheme website and planning for the program’s commencement.
President Tinubu reassured the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) during their visit to the State House in Abuja that the program would start once its expansion to include additional features, such as vocational studies, was completed.
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