President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to channel eligible recovered funds to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to strengthen the student loan programme. The directive, announced by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, aims to ensure NELFUND has enough funding to meet its growing obligations to students.
₦200 Billion Boost for Student Loans
The move will utilize over ₦200 billion in unclaimed dividends, along with dormant funds, to support NELFUND. This larger pool of money will allow the agency to sustain existing student loans and potentially accommodate more eligible applicants as demand for the scheme increases. According to data from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria's unclaimed dividends stood at about ₦242 billion as of June 2025.
Liquid Funds Only
However, the directive does not mean that every asset seized by the EFCC will be transferred to NELFUND. Alausa clarified that the arrangement applies to liquid funds recovered by the EFCC, while properties and funds still involved in legal proceedings are excluded. Only funds that are legally available for transfer can be used to support NELFUND.
NELFUND's Growing Obligations
The new funding arrangement could give NELFUND a larger pool of money to support students seeking financial assistance for higher education. NELFUND has described the additional funding as support for its growing student-loan obligations. The agency will still need to meet its eligibility requirements, have records verified by their institutions, and apply through the official NELFUND portal.
Sustaining Student Loans
The development also builds on the Federal Government's wider effort to create a sustainable funding structure for the student loan programme, rather than relying solely on annual budgetary allocations. For students struggling to meet the cost of tertiary education, the immediate significance is that NELFUND could have greater financial capacity to continue and expand the loan programme.
Source: Pulse.ng
