The University of Calabar has confirmed the payment of NELFUND tuition refunds to 1,089 students, with thousands of other applications currently awaiting processing through its newly launched online refund platform.
Addressing journalists on Friday, the institution’s NELFUND Desk Officer, Dr Elizabeth Effiwatt, said the university had successfully completed nine rounds of refund payments and rejected reports suggesting that beneficiaries had not been paid.
She said, “The University of Calabar has completed nine batches of manual refunds to 1,089 students. It is wrong for anyone to say UNICAL has not refunded. We are refunding, and the process is ongoing.”
Effiwatt explained that the refund exercise has continued in phases and stressed that UNICAL should not be grouped with institutions accused of withholding NELFUND refunds. She also applauded the Federal Government and NELFUND management for introducing the student loan programme.
The university’s Director of ICT, Dr Eyo Essien, said the institution has introduced an electronic refund system that allows students to submit applications directly through the school’s portal instead of using the previous manual process.
According to him, the new platform has attracted 2,090 refund requests in less than one month, although fresh payments have been temporarily suspended to verify records before another round of disbursement.
He said, “We have about 2,090 students who have applied for refund in less than a month. It is because of this automation. We have moved from the manual method of payment to digital. That is why it is easy for them to go through their portal on their own and apply without stress. Payment for the next phase was paused to reconcile records. Very soon, they will smile.”
Essien added that the online platform enables students to apply for refunds and monitor their payment status without visiting any office or paying any processing fee.
He said, “They don’t need to go anywhere. They don’t pay money to anybody. They just sit with their phone and do the application for a refund. In fact, they can see their balance on the dashboard.
“There are many schools. I don’t think there is any school or institution in Nigeria that has done what UNICAL has done. This innovation is seamless, no stress. The students can use it either to pay fees or to seek a refund.”