NELFUND Addresses Student Loan Delays, Urges Schools to Refund Fees Already Paid by Students

NELFUND Addresses Student Loan Delays, Urges Schools to Refund Fees Already Paid by Students

Amid growing complaints about NELFUND student loan delays, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, has acknowledged the bottlenecks affecting timely disbursement and appealed to tertiary institutions nationwide to refund students who paid fees while awaiting loan approval.

The clarification comes as many students report late payment of both upkeep stipends and tuition fees under the recently introduced student loan scheme.

Speaking in an interview with NAN, Sawyerr explained that the approval process takes time because NELFUND must carefully verify all applicant details—while institutions also have their own verification roles to play. These dual checks, he said, significantly affect processing speed.

“Part of our due diligence requires institutions to confirm that applicants truly belong to them. They must verify each approval and send it back to us before funds can be released,” he noted.

According to him, these verification steps are necessary but time-consuming, often causing disbursements to arrive after school deadlines—leading some students to pay fees out of pocket.

NELFUND Urges Schools to Refund Students

Sawyerr emphasized that once NELFUND eventually pays a student’s fees, institutions should refund whatever the student earlier paid.

“We cannot force schools to return the money, but we strongly encourage them to refund students after we disburse for that same academic session,” he said.

He added that the Federal Ministry of Education is considering a firmer stance to ensure timely refunds.

Why NELFUND Does Not Pay Arrears

Addressing concerns about missed payments, Sawyerr clarified that the Fund does not make retrospective payments to avoid double disbursement.

“If a student applies early, they may receive a full 12-month upkeep stipend. Those who apply mid-session receive only the months remaining. We do not pay backwards,” he explained.

He added that once work begins for a new academic session, all payments for the previous session must end, in order to maintain strict accountability.

How Fees Are Verified

Sawyerr explained that schools upload their official fee schedules directly into NELFUND’s student verification system. Students can view these figures when applying and challenge them if the amounts differ from what they were officially charged.

“In the early stage of implementing the scheme, some institutions delayed sending accurate data. To avoid shutting students out, we temporarily used placeholder figures which were later replaced with the real fees,” he said.

Why the Delays Persist

Sawyerr listed several additional reasons for the ongoing NELFUND student loan delays, including:

• Late student applications
• Differing academic calendars across institutions
• Complex verification processes
• Varying student levels and session timelines
• High volume of daily complaints

He noted that synchronizing payments for thousands of students in different schools—with different start dates, end dates, and academic cycles—adds unavoidable complexity.

“Remember that we are dealing with students applying at different times, attending schools with different timetables, and at different stages of their sessions. It is a massive coordination task,” he said.

Sawyerr added that the scheme is still new and naturally faces teething problems that older, decades-old loan programs no longer struggle with.

Conclusion

Despite ongoing complaints, NELFUND says it is continuously working to improve processing times, strengthen verification systems, and ensure students receive their support without unnecessary delays.

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