NELFUND’s ₦16bn Monthly Upkeep Bill Raises Questions Over Student Loan Sustainability
NELFUND says it now requires about ₦16 billion every month to pay student upkeep allowances, excluding tuition fees paid directly to institutions. The fund’s managing director, Akintunde Sawyerr, says the lack of loan recoveries means the scheme depends heavily on government allocations and reserves. The fund has received more than 1.36 million applications, approved over 860,000 students and disbursed ₦161.97 billion in tuition and upkeep support. Of this amount, ₦72.03 billion was paid to students as upkeep, while ₦89.94 billion went to 263 public tertiary institutions for tuition. NELFUND attributed recent payment delays to network failures, bank-account validation issues and processing pressure. It said a reconciliation exercise identified ₦927.98 million in unpaid upkeep for 11,685 students, adding that the affected payments were delayed rather than missing. With applications continuing to rise, the fund is seeking more sustainable revenue sources, including private-sector and philanthropic support. The key question is whether the current model can continue without a reliable flow of repayments.
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