The Nigerian Education Loan Fund ( NELFUND), said on Thursday that its total loan disbursements to students stood at N116.184 billion to 176, 252 beneficiary institutions as at January 1, 2025.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyer, made the disclosure before the National Assembly joint committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND while defending the Fund’s 2025 budgetary allocation proposal.
According to him, N37.7 billion of the N116.184 billion went into institutional loans while 108, 484 of 352,796 student loan applicants received the loans.
Sawyer told the committee co chaired by Senator Muntari Dandutse and Rep Gboyega Isiaka that the Fund got a budgetary proposal of N58.4 billion for the 2025 fiscal year.
“Out of the N58.4billon budgetary proposal for 2025, N12.2 billion is earmarked for personnel cost, N24.7 billion for overhead cost and N21.4 billion for capital expenditure,” he explained.
But the senator representing Lagos East, Tokunbo Abiru faulted plans by NELFUND to acquire its head office building in Abuja for N12 billion.
Abiru described NELFUND’s bid to purchase a N12 billion property as wasteful and advised Sawyer to look for a befitting property among the ones seized from corrupt Nigerians by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
“You can’t be talking about buying office building for N12 billion at this point in the life of your agency. You can approach the government and negotiate to buy some of the buildings seized by the EFCC or the ICPC for less that amount,” Abiru said.
The Lagos lawmaker also faulted a proposal by NELFUND to spend N4.8 billion on sensitisation and awareness campaign, describing it as out of place. According to him, the FUND can leverage the numerous cost effective virtual options that the digital age offers to bridge the gap.
Abiru also picked holes in another N2 billion earmarked for skill acquisition, saying there was no breakdown of specific items on which the agency intends to spend the money.
It’s NELFUND’s maiden budgetary proposal as the FUND was established by President Bola Tinubu in April 2024.
