…Says Demand For Student Loans Has Been Overwhelming

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, has dismissed claims that the Federal Government’s student loan scheme favours children whose parents are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Sawyerr described the allegation as a “completely ridiculous idea”, arguing that the electronic application process makes it impossible for NELFUND to determine or favour beneficiaries based on political affiliation.

“I have not heard this allegation, but I can tell you that it’s a completely ridiculous idea that the administration of Bola Tinubu is focused on trying to fund people who support the party. We are talking about students; many of them are yet to vote, some of them are going to be voting for the first time, [and] many of them are not party members.

“How, in any event, do we determine who is a party member and who isn’t? Even if you are running a manual process, how do you do that? You can’t. It’s unlikely to yield you any result,” Sawyerr said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.

He said the loan application process was designed around objective eligibility criteria, adding that applicants must apply electronically and provide information such as their names and matriculation numbers.

“It is a process you have to apply for this loan electronically. If you don’t have a name, you can’t apply for this loan. You provide your matriculation number; you have to be in a public institution,” he said.

The NELFUND MD added that the scheme’s system does not discriminate based on personal characteristics, religion or ethnicity.

“We have a system that is focused on people who are Nigerians and meet the standard. The system doesn’t recognise your gender. There is no bias in the system at the front end or the back end.

“This is a system that doesn’t care whether you are of one tribe or the other. This system does not have a view or an opinion on whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, or an African traditional religionist; it doesn’t want to know,” he said.

Sawyerr also said demand for the student loan had been “overwhelming”, describing the scheme as a lifeline for students struggling to finance their education.

He revealed that NELFUND had disbursed ₦162 billion in upkeep allowances, while the scheme had contributed to a reported 20 per cent reduction in student dropout rates.

Weighing in on repayment, Sawyerr said beneficiaries would repay the loans based on their ability to pay. He also said funds reportedly recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the scheme had not yet been received by NELFUND.

The student loan scheme was established under the Student Loans Act signed into law by President Tinubu in April 2024. It provides interest-free financial support to eligible Nigerian students in public tertiary institutions.

The scheme covers approved institutional charges and upkeep allowances, with repayment scheduled to begin two years after completion of the National Youth Service Corps programme.

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday declared that President Donald Trump of the United States, US, is backing his proposed policy on the restoration of fuel subsidy.


Atiku had pledged to return the subsidy on fuel if elected as the President of Nigeria in 2027.

He made this known in a statement by his spokesman, Phrank Shaibu tagged, ‘Atiku boasts of stakeholders, Trump support on fuel subsidy’.

Parts of the statement read: “This is why my Production Subsidy is about putting money back into people’s pockets. Support what we produce and refine here, increase supply, monitor the price and make sure Nigerians feel the benefit at the pump.

“CORAN is saying support domestic production. America understands the importance of supporting strategic energy production.

“Yet Tinubu attacks relief for ordinary Nigerians while his government understands perfectly well how to grant waivers, incentives and concessions to multinational oil companies and businesses close to his administration.

“So why does intervention suddenly become bad economics when ordinary Nigerians are meant to benefit?”

The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has said he is fully aware of the shortcomings of President Bola Tinubu’s administration but would not blame the incumbent if he succeeds him as president in 2027.

Adebayo said he understood the challenges confronting the country and the policies of the Tinubu administration that he considered wrong, insisting that whoever takes over government must accept both its achievements and liabilities.

He made the remarks during an interview on TVC’s Politics On Sunday.

“When I become president by God’s grace, I’m not going to blame President Tinubu. Once I take the oath of office, I am now inheriting everything that the president before me has done,” Adebayo said.

According to him, assuming responsibility for the country’s existing infrastructure and institutions also means accepting the problems inherited from the previous administration.

“Because if I’m going to go and enter a state house that wasn’t built by me, drive on a road that wasn’t built by me, and go and do convocation in universities that were not established by me, it means that the incumbent before me left some assets and if he left some liabilities also, I have to know,” he said.

Adebayo said even though he understands the condition of the Nigerian economy and the challenges facing the country, he’s ready to contest for president.

“Right now, I know the perilous state of the economy. I know the troubled state of affairs in Nigeria,” he said.

He also claimed to understand most of the areas where he believes the Tinubu administration had gone wrong.

“I know 99% of what President Tinubu is doing wrong. I know them, and I’m still hellbent on running for the office,” Adebayo said.

The SDP candidate said his approach to governance would be based on continuity rather than spending time assigning blame to his predecessor.

“So I don’t get in there and start blaming him after that. I know everything that is wrong with the government, and there’s a system of handover. So there’s a continuity in government,” he said.