The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has uncovered a shocking 900% tuition increase in 10 tertiary institutions, with fees jumping from ₦200,000 to ₦2 million in a single academic year.
Mustapha Iyal, NELFUND’s Executive Director of Operations, revealed the discovery during a media briefing in Abuja, stating the Fund’s system automatically flagged and rejected the questionable fee hikes.
“We stopped some applications from going through because we checked the fees that we had last year for certain institutions. Some had like ₦200,000 (last year), but this year, they have like ₦2 million,” he said.
Iyal criticized the unjustified surge, warning it could sabotage the student loan scheme and burden borrowers. However, he withheld the names of the implicated schools pending further investigation.
Amid the fee controversy, NELFUND announced it has already disbursed ₦73.2 billion to 396,000 students nationwide.
Akintunde Sawyerr, the Fund’s Managing Director, confirmed ₦38.3 billion covered tuition, while ₦34.9 billion went to upkeep allowances. Beneficiaries span 206 institutions across all 36 states and the FCT.
Sawyerr credited the scheme’s success to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, citing milestones like a fully digital loan portal ensuring transparency, expansion to include technical and vocational students and swift resolution of banking and wallet issues.
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