NELFUND’s recovery method on students loan after graduation
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The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, has explained how students who take loans from the fund will repay them.
He said that graduates are expected to begin repaying their loans two years after completing their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), but only if they have a job. For those who are unemployed, NELFUND will help connect them with job opportunities through a special portal. Once employed, their employers will deduct 10% of their salary to repay the loan.
“If a student finishes school and completes NYSC, they are expected to start repayment after two years but only if they’re working.
We’ll help connect them to jobs through a job portal. When they get a job, their employer will deduct 10% of their salary to repay the loan,” Sawyerr said during an interview on Arise Television.
He added that the responsibility to repay is with the employer, not the student. Employers will check a database to see if a new employee has a NELFUND loan. If they do, 10% of their salary will be deducted and sent to NELFUND—with the employee’s permission. For those who are self-employed, they will need to make the payment themselves.
Sawyerr also said that 724,000 students had applied for the loan, and so far, 449,000 have benefited from it. These students come from 218 federal and state institutions. So far, NELFUND has paid N47 billion in school fees and N38 billion in upkeep allowances.
He stressed that students do not need any special connections to get the loan—just proper verification.
On the issue of double payments, Sawyerr said that some students paid their fees without knowing NELFUND had already paid. In such cases, schools are expected to refund the money. While some schools have already started refunds, others are taking longer. He described these as “minor administrative issues” that are being worked out.
Finally, he said NELFUND has set up systems to track borrowers, using information like Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) and bank accounts, to ensure that loans are repaid properly.
