NELFUND Clarifies Upkeep Loan Disbursement Process Amid Public Concerns

Abuja: The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has addressed public inquiries regarding its upkeep loan disbursement process, emphasizing its alignment with academic sessions.

In a statement on Thursday in Abuja, the Fund’s Director of Strategic Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, explained that the decision to align upkeep disbursements strictly with academic sessions was based on two key factors.

She noted that one reason was that tertiary institutions did not operate under a harmonised academic calendar.

According to Oluwatuyi, the measure is also intended to prevent duplicate upkeep payments to the same student within the same institution and academic session.

“This policy ensures that upkeep payments are managed fairly, transparently, and in line with each institution’s academic schedule,” she said.

She urged students to note that rejection might result from incomplete or unclear documentation, incorrect account details, or a mismatch of names across official documents.

She added that rejection might also result if an institution had not verified or had declined to approve a student’s details for its reasons.

“For transparency, all rejection reasons are clearly stated on each applicant’s dashboard.

“At the upkeep application stage, rejection may occur if the academic session being applied for has already closed.

“This information is provided directly by the respective institutions,” she said.

In such cases, she advised students to reapply under the new academic session or resolve identified issues to access both institutional charges and upkeep for that year.

NELFUND reassures students that no eligible applicant would be denied access to the loan scheme, provided applications were submitted with accurate documentation and within the relevant academic session.

“We remain committed to our mandate of supporting Nigerian students through an efficient, transparent, and inclusive loan process.

“We encourage institutions to promptly upload their academic calendars to ensure seamless access to loan benefits.

“For further inquiries or assistance, please get in touch with us via email at info@nelf.gov.ng or reach out through X (formerly Twitter). nelfund; Instagram: @nelfund; Facebook and LinkedIn: Nigerian Education Loan Fund,” she said.