A new date has been fixed for the Nigeria Education Loan Fund portal for eligible students.
According to the Federal Government the portal would open in March.
The Executive Secretary, NELFund, Dr. Akintunde Sawyer, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja, urged eligible students to register to access the fund.
President Bola Tinubu on June 12, 2023, signed the Access to Higher Education Bill into law to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans to pursue their education in any Nigerian tertiary institution.
The scheme was slated to commence between September and October 2023, but because of unforeseen circumstances, there was a revised timeline to January.
Giving reasons for the delay in starting the scheme as earlier scheduled, Sawyer explained that the process is technically driven and necessary measures needed to be put in place for proper execution.
“The take-off date is this month (March) and the reason for the delay is that we are trying to get it right.
“This is not a political programme where we say, oh! we are just going to do it, it doesn’t matter how it works.
“This is a programme that will probably run beyond me as a human being, not even as a Secretary. This is something that we want to run adequately, so we have to get it right,’’ he said.
Sawyerr reiterated President Tinubu’s commitment to ensure that lack of finance did not constitute a reason for any student in Nigeria to halt education at a tertiary level.
He added that the scheme is designed for indigent Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and applications will be done online.
Students Loan: FG Explains Why Scheme Is Yet To Take Off, Sets New Date
