The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced that it has released ₦140.9 billion in student loans to beneficiaries since the scheme’s portal became active on May 24, 2024.
A Daily Status Report published on Sunday on its official X account revealed that the fund has so far processed 1,193,228 applications, with 788,947 students already benefiting from the initiative.
The report also indicated that as of November 12, 2025, there were 35,773 new successful applications recorded for the week, and 3,367 on that particular day—reflecting a 0.3% rise in new applications compared to the previous day.
NELFUND noted that a total of ₦140,884,471,740 has been disbursed to 262 institutions to cover tuition fees, along with ₦88,947,000 for institutional fees and ₦53,776,000,000 as upkeep allowances.
According to report, the fund plans to extend its student loan scheme to cover vocational and skills acquisition programmes.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, saying the extension aligns with the Federal Government’s broader education and skills development agenda.
He added that the move reflects President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to inclusive human capital development beyond traditional university education.
According to Sawyerr, Nigeria’s next phase of development requires a balance between academic and technical competence.
“At NELFUND, we have a mandate to also support vocational skills.
“We have not started yet, but I know that the President Bola Tinubu administration has ensured that there is full coverage around the skills issue,” he said.
