The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on President Bola Tinubu to investigate and sanction heads of tertiary institutions allegedly sabotaging the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme by withholding student refunds and inflating tuition figures on the loan platform.
NANS President, Akinteye Babatunde, made the allegations in a video message addressed to the President through his official X account, describing the practices as a deliberate attempt to undermine one of the Tinubu administration’s flagship education policies.
According to Babatunde, many institutions compel students to source their own funds to pay tuition before NELFUND loans are disbursed, but fail to refund those students after receiving the loan payments from the fund.
“Many institutions force students to look for money to pay before the NELFUND loan is paid and when the loans are paid, the institutions still hold the money and refuse to refund those students,” he said.
He questioned why institutions would hold onto students’ money for months without returning it, describing the practice as unacceptable.
“Why will a school owe students money for three months, four months and not refund them? It is evil. It is as if they are doing this to frustrate the good intention you have for creating the loan,” Babatunde said.
The NANS President also raised alarm over alleged fee inflation, citing a specific polytechnic in Edo State where he claimed students were paying N124,000 in tuition but the school uploaded N250,000 to the NELFUND platform.
“This money has to be paid back by the students when they start working, so they should not give them debt that is not their own,” he warned.
Babatunde urged the Federal Government to publicly name institutions involved in the alleged misconduct and take decisive action against officials found culpable. He also appealed to state governors to intervene in state-owned institutions where such practices were occurring.
Despite the allegations, he commended the Federal Government for the student loan programme, saying it has delivered on its promise by ensuring tuition payments reach institutions and upkeep allowances reach students.
“I think this legacy of yours needs to be protected and secured by all means possible. If they are frustrating a policy that is meant to promote your government, I don’t see any reason why we are keeping them,” Babatunde said.
In a related development, NELFUND has announced plans to replace its current system of paying tuition directly to institutions with a digital token-based payment system. The new system is designed to give students greater control over when tuition payments are made and ensure that loan funds are used strictly for their intended purpose, eliminating double payments and improving overall transparency.
Digital Operations Manager at The Students Forum Nigeria.
