By Els William
An open letter addressed to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, EFCC Chairman Olanipekun Olukoyede, and Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN alleges serious mismanagement and delays in the disbursement of student upkeep funds through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
The authors, representing the National Union of Nigerian Students, describe a distressing reality: “Many students are suffering. While the NELFUND portal shows their funds as ‘disbursed,’ they have not received even a single naira.” Some students have endured waits of “up to 10 months without payment,” while others have been delayed for “2 to 4 months.” Meanwhile, NELFUND allegedly “has publicly claimed to have paid all students – which is not true.”
The letter raises broader concerns about the integrity of the entire initiative. Although the government announced a ₦100 billion allocation to NELFUND, many eligible students remain unpaid, and there is “no reliable help center to assist students in correcting issues on the portal.” The union suspects “possible misconduct or mismanagement” and urges “urgent intervention to ensure honesty, justice, and accountability.”
NELFUND has stated that it has disbursed billions of naira to cover tuition and upkeep fees for hundreds of thousands of students nationwide, but student testimonies and reports of delays suggest that systemic bottlenecks persist. These delays are often linked to schools’ slow verification processes after NELFUND approval, hampering students’ ability to pay tuition or sit for examinations. Some final-year students have had to pay their fees out of pocket, facing uncertainty around possible refunds.
Payment system glitches have also been reported, particularly with students using digital-only wallets, leading to failed disbursements. While some backlog payments have been cleared after affected students switched to traditional bank accounts, others continue to face rejections or unexplained delays in upkeep disbursements. In certain cases, students who had been receiving payments suddenly found their upkeep requests marked as “Rejected” on the NELFUND portal.
The implications for Nigeria’s education sector are significant. Prolonged delays threaten academic progression, with students potentially being barred from examinations or forced to abandon their studies due to lack of funds. Beyond the immediate hardship, the credibility of NELFUND—and, by extension, public trust in government-led education financing—is at risk. Allegations of opacity, absence of accountability channels, and poor communication exacerbate the situation, eroding the confidence of the very citizens the program is meant to serve.
The union’s call is clear: there is an urgent need for transparent, verifiable processes, institutional accountability, and effective support mechanisms. As one student poignantly put it, “In this age of IoT and AI, why can’t NELFUND automate refunds using BVN and NIN data?”
President Tinubu, the EFCC, and NELFUND leadership must swiftly address these allegations—not just with data, but by ensuring timely delivery, accessible complaint channels, and clear communication. Failure to act decisively will inflict enduring damage—not only on students but also on Nigeria’s aspirations for equitable access to quality education