The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced robust administrative measures aimed at clamping down on “double-dipping” beneficiaries—students who reportedly collect financial support through the federal student loan scheme while their parents or guardians simultaneously cover their institutional tuition fees.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, made this critical disclosure during a press briefing, emphasizing that the agency is moving aggressively to overhaul its transparency protocols and plug potential loopholes within the disbursement framework.
According to Sawyerr, intelligence gathered by the fund revealed instances where students accessed financial assistance from the loan scheme despite still depending on family members for their school charges. To resolve this discrepancy and ensure resources are equitably channeled to deserving applicants, NELFUND is instituting new verification mechanisms.
These measures will allow parents to explicitly confirm whether their children’s tuition has been settled via the platform without necessarily exposing sensitive financial data, thereby assuring transparency for guardians who remain financially supportive.
In tandem with these procedural updates, NELFUND’s Executive Director, Mustapha Iyal, elaborated on the technological infrastructure powering the disbursements, noting that the agency relies strictly on application identification numbers and dedicated digital wallets rather than conventional bank account numbers for institutional payments. This tokenized approach ensures that tuition payments go directly toward clearing university, polytechnic, and college fees, while separate channels manage monthly upkeep allowances.
Furthermore, NELFUND announced plans to roll out comprehensive re-education workshops across all six geopolitical zones. These sessions are specifically designed to orientate students, tertiary institution administrators, and other key stakeholders on the revised operational guidelines, safeguarding the integrity and long-term sustainability of the federal student loan initiative.