President Tinubu’s Government Postpones Launch of Student Loan Scheme Indefinitely

The launch of the Student Loan Scheme proposed by the Tinubu-led government has been postponed indefinitely.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyer, made this known on Tuesday, March 12.

Sawyer said that the launch had been postponed because there was some fine-tuning that was being made around the scheme launch itself.

In an interview on Arise News, the NELFUND boss, however, did not give a new date for the launch of the scheme.

He said: “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.

“One thing that I will commit to is that this is a well-intended project. The president, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu means well around this and absolutely wants this rolled out as fast as possible, and we’re working very hard to help realise that.”

Sawyer’s comments come hours after President Bola Tinubu said the reason for the delay of the scheme, which ought to have commenced, was that it is being worked on and fine-tuned.

Tinubu stated this on Monday at the flag-off of the Agric Mechanisation Revolution for Food Security in Minna, the Niger State capital.

Recall that President Tinubu had on June 12, 2023, signed into law the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, marking a significant step forward in the provision of interest-free loans for underprivileged students in Nigerian tertiary institutions.

The scheme, which was to start last September and postponed to January 2024, was later rescheduled for the commencement on March 1, 2024, but failed to kick off.