By Charles Olewezi
There is palpable fear among students and parents that the Federal Government’s student loan scheme currently managed by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), may have run into a hitch given the inability of the Fund to disburse upkeep to benefiting students of tertiary institutions for the months of May and June, 2026.
Investigations by our reporter revealed that most students who rely on the Fund’s monthly N20,000 payment for their upkeep are now stranded. Some who prefer to speak anonymously are worried that the present state of the economy may warrant the Federal Government to discontinue the scheme. Others, including parents are of the view that lack of funds may have badly affected the smooth running of the programme.
Mr. Dele Akanbi, a self-employed parent of two students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria noted that the current lack of release of funds for capital projects by the present administration may be the case with NELFUND. He said, “check the level of lamentations by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for money to execute simple projects and even carry out minor expenditures. The money is not there. So I suspect the same issue is affecting NELFUND”.
Some of the students are pleading with the President to intervene as their hope of remaining in school depends largely on the scheme.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), issued a stern warning to the Federal Government and the management of NELFUND, demanding the immediate release of outstanding students’ upkeep allowances or risk a nationwide mass action that could culminate in the occupation of the agency’s headquarters.
In a strongly worded statement released on Saturday, NANS President, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, expressed outrage over what he described as a prolonged and unexplained delay in the disbursement of upkeep allowances to thousands of student beneficiaries across the country.
According to the student body, the allowances, which form a critical component of the NELFUND support scheme, have allegedly not been paid for the past two months, leaving many students struggling to cope with rising living costs amid the nation’s economic challenges.
NANS said it had received numerous complaints from affected students and accused the relevant authorities of failing to provide clear explanations for the disruption in payments.
Few weeks ago, news went viral on social media that the government had suspended the scheme. The news was however dismissed as fake by the Management of the Funds.
In a statement, the Director of Strategic Communications, NELFUND, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, described the reports as false, misleading, and intended to create panic and distrust among students and the public.
“NELFUND clarifies that neither the Federal Government nor the agency has issued any directive suspending upkeep allowance payments.
However, the agency has adjusted its policy to strictly tie upkeep disbursements to the active academic calendar of each institution.”
A source, who is familiar with the operations of NELFUND, however, disclosed to our reporter that the upkeep for May and June may soon be disbursed as the current delay is attributed to an ongoing system upgrade aimed at improving the payment process.
Enquires made through the official email of NELFUND as at the time of filing this report did not go through.