The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has suggested that some students may have accessed funding from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) without informing their parents.
Oyedele made the comment during a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday while responding to a journalist who said his three children in school had not benefited from the scheme and that he was unaware of any of their friends who had received the funding.
The minister urged the journalist to ask his children whether they had applied for the loan and to request evidence of their applications.
“It is possible they’ve collected the money, and they are collecting from you,” Oyedele said.
He advised parents to take an active role in helping their children access the scheme if they had not already applied.
“If there’s anything that everyone can attest to, it is this NELFUND,” he said, noting that students had shared videos celebrating after receiving the financial support.
Oyedele explained that the scheme was not limited to tuition payments, as beneficiaries could also receive monthly stipends.
“We’ve seen videos of students randomly rejoicing because it’s not only the tuition that was being paid, they get monthly stipend interest free in a high inflationary environment,” he said.
According to the minister, students could access up to N1.5 million through the scheme.
He encouraged parents who were uncertain about the application process to assist their children in applying through the appropriate channels.
“You can go to the website. In fact, what you can do, ask any of those three children to give you their details. Help them apply,” he said.
“If you can’t find the link, come to Ministry of Finance. We will help you. You will do it yourself. You apply for one of those three children and you get the amount.”
Oyedele also reiterated that the journalist should first establish whether his children had actually applied before concluding that they had not benefited from the scheme.
“The Honourable Minister is saying we should even ask you whether they’ve shown you the evidence that they applied. You need to go and ask them,” he said.
The minister further disclosed that NELFUND had recorded higher uptake in northern Nigeria compared with the southern part of the country.
“Interestingly, the uptake is more in the North than in the South because we spend all our energy here doubting everything that government does,” he said.
Oyedele said the government’s experience with the programme indicated that students who successfully applied had been receiving alerts confirming their benefits.
He also recalled his experience supporting indigent students through his personal foundation, saying some beneficiaries continued to approach him for financial assistance even after he had directed them to apply for available government support.
“Many of them were still coming to me after I said go and apply. I sent link to them within two weeks. They said we got alerts,” he said.