NELFUND Cut Tertiary Dropout Rate by 20% in 2025 — Sawyerr

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, has said the student loan scheme helped reduce the tertiary education dropout rate by 20 per cent in 2025.

Sawyerr disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he said research had shown that the intervention was helping students remain in higher institutions and complete their studies.

He, however, did not disclose the organisation responsible for the research that produced the 20 per cent figure or explain the methodology used to arrive at the estimate.

The NELFUND boss also referred to a recent study by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN, Commission, which he said found that 84 per cent of beneficiaries were able to continue their tertiary education because of the loan scheme.

Sawyerr said the findings provided evidence that the student loan programme was helping to address financial barriers that could force students to abandon their education.

On concerns over the management and disbursement of NELFUND funds, he said the organisation had internal and external audit mechanisms to monitor its financial operations and ensure accountability.

He explained that NELFUND does not give beneficiaries physical cash, as payments are processed through the banking system and transferred directly to students’ accounts.

According to him, beneficiaries are identified through their Bank Verification Numbers, BVN, allowing the fund to track payments and monitor transactions connected to the beneficiaries.

Sawyerr said students receiving monthly upkeep support have the money transferred directly into their bank accounts rather than receiving it through cash payments.

He also addressed complaints from students who paid their institutional fees before receiving NELFUND assistance.

The NELFUND managing director explained that some refund problems were linked to the timing of the programme, which was introduced in the middle of certain academic sessions.

He said many institutions had already required students to pay their fees before the loan scheme became available, creating the need for refunds after NELFUND payments were made.

Sawyerr said some institutions responded quickly by refunding students who had already paid, while others had delays in processing the money.

He added that NELFUND had involved security and investigative agencies in some cases where assistance was needed to address outstanding refund issues.

NELFUND was established in 2024 to provide interest-free loans to eligible students in tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

As of September 3, the fund said it had disbursed more than ₦355 billion to 1,659,853 beneficiaries from 1,800,489 applications received.