The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) recently released a status report stating that its disbursements to students under the loan scheme reached N59.8 billion as of June 5, 2025.
According to the report, 298,124 Nigerian students are benefiting from the scheme, with N30.2 billion disbursed for institutional fees and N29.6 billion for students’ upkeep.
Beneficiary Complaints
However, some beneficiaries have expressed frustration and disappointment with the scheme. Several students complained that they haven’t received their upkeep allowance for April, let alone May. Some beneficiaries took to social media to express their anger, with one user, @Temmy_Dayo__, posting:
“Pay upkeep to thousands of students that corrected their account details since last year. Even our April payment status is showing ‘disbursed’ when we have not received any upkeep at all. You people are thieves. You people are not transparent at all.”
Other beneficiaries echoed similar sentiments:
– @Roshmancrypto said, “I haven’t seen my April upkeep and it is showing ‘disbursed’”.
– Isaiah Utitofon claimed he hadn’t received his April upkeep allowance, calling the data released by NELFUND “lies”.
– Another beneficiary posted, “You guys are so not serious and incompetent. Many of us haven’t seen our April upkeep like myself but u guys drop statistics every time. NELFUND pay our upkeep.”
NELFUND’s Response
As of the time of reporting, NELFUND had not responded to these complaints.
Probe into Alleged Discrepancies
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has launched a comprehensive inquiry into alleged discrepancies surrounding the disbursement of student loans under NELFUND.
The probe follows reports suggesting that 51 tertiary institutions were involved in unauthorized deductions from student loans, with concerns over an unaccounted sum of N71.2 billion.
NELFUND’s Stance on Allegations
NELFUND has publicly denied any mismanagement or unaccounted funds within its current student loan scheme, clarifying that the reported discrepancies refer to pre-existing education financing programs that predate its operational commencement in 2024.
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