By FUNMILAYO ADEYEMI

The Managing Director, Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr has explained why the Fund cannot pay institutional fees for new intakes before they complete their registration processes.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Sawyerr said that paying tuition for students who have not registered or matriculated could result in large-scale financial losses for the Fund.

“If we pay fees for students that have not entered, what if they changed their minds and they don’t go to the schools anymore?

“We cannot just say because somebody has been admitted to a school, and we will pay the fees before registering or matriculating,” he said.

According to him, doing so would amount to disbursing against intention, a practice he warned could be financially risky for the government.

“If we carry on like that, we could end up disbursing billions of naira, only to find out that they have dropped out, got admission to a school outside the country, gone to another school, or not doing that course again,” he said.

The managing director added that another key challenge is the school admission process, where students needed a matriculation number to access the loan.

To resolve this, he said NELFUND was working closely with tertiary institutions to find a temporary solution, possibly allowing students to use their Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) registration numbers as a substitute for matriculation numbers.

“There are many genuine students who have applied and they need matriculation number to be able to process their fees.

“The challenge is that, they cannot get their matriculation number until they have matriculated and they cannot matriculate until they have paid.

We are trying to work with the schools to see how those who have registered, can use their JAMB registration number, as a substitute,” he added.

The Managing Director also reflected on the Fund’s journey since its establishment, noting that several challenges had to be addressed before its operations could begin.

He recalled that the first law establishing NELFUND, signed on June 12, 2023, had several flaws, including the requirement for guarantors and income limits that excluded many households.

“One of the flaws was the requirement for a guarantor, which we saw as a difficult position to put students in;

“If you need a guarantor, it means that you need to go out and plead with somebody or pay somebody.

“The second was that, the 2023 Act stated that any family that had a household income in excess of N500,000 was not eligible.

“We all know that N500,000 is a very small amount of money for a household over a whole year.

“So, it meant that many people would not be able to apply for the loan,” he said.

He added that the law also failed to consider how students would meet their basic needs after tuition payment, as it did not provide stipends for upkeep.

To address these issues, Sawyer said that President Bola Tinubu initiated a repeal of the initial law, leading to the drafting of a new Education Loan Act, which was passed and launched in May 2024.

“From May 2024 when we started and now, we are delighted that, not for a single day has the site crashed, even as we received unanticipated high demand.

“We have been able to receive applications on a steady basis, process them, pay students and their institutions from what have been allocated to us,” he said

Sawyer expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for his visionary leadership, saying NELFUND has become a lifeline for thousands of students who might, otherwise, have abandoned their education. (NAN)