The Federal Government has announced its decision to postpone the launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme indefinitely.
This was disclosed by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyer, who stated this in an interview with ARISE NEWS.
Sawyer explained that due to some corrections being made, the lunch of the loan programme which was formally slated to take off on Thursday, needed to be postponed indefinitely.
He further stated there was no specific future date marked for the kickstart at the moment.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to commit to a specific date. We are sort of waiting to ensure that all the stakeholders are aligned to make sure that nobody is blindsided, then we can actually roll this out in a meaningful, comprehensive, wholesome and sustainable way,” he said.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had signed the bill to establish a Students Loan Fund (SLF) into law in June 2023, to provide interest-free loans to Nigerians seeking higher education.
The bill, sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, was initially planned to kickstart between September and October 2023.
However, as the government couldn’t meet the previously set deadline, President Tinubu announced the scheme would begin by January 2024.
In January also, Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, confirmed at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, while speaking to reporters, that preparations were completed for the scheme to begin, including the finalisation of the Student Loan Scheme website and the conclusion of technical plans to facilitate the scheme’s kick-off.
