NELFUND clarifies upkeep loan disbursement, application process

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By Anthony Maliki, Abuja

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has further clarity the context for students, institutions, and the general public on its recent communication on upkeep loan disbursement following concerns on the matter.

The clarification is contained in a statement by NELFUND’s Director, Strategic Communications, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.

NELFUND noted that the decision to align upkeep disbursements strictly with academic sessions arises from two key factors-Nigeria’s tertiary institutions do not operate under a harmonised academic calendar and to avoid the risk of duplicate upkeep payments to the same student within the same institution but different academic sessions.

According to the statement, this policy ensures that upkeep payments are managed fairly, transparently, and in line with each institution’s academic schedule.

It pointed out that students whose applications are rejected should note that such outcomes may occur for the following reasons. They are, at the initial stage of application – rejection may result from incomplete or unclear documentation, incorrect account details, or a mismatch of names across official documents, institutional verification stage – rejection may also result if an institution has not verified or has declined to approve a student’s details for its own reasons. For transparency, all rejection reasons are clearly stated on each applicant’s dashboard and 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.

In such cases, NELFUND said, students are simply required to reapply under their new academic session or resolve identified issues in order to access both institutional charges and upkeep for that year.

“NELFUND reassures students that no eligible applicant will be denied access to the loan scheme, provided applications are 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, and we encourage institutions to promptly upload their academic calendars to ensure seamless access to loan benefits,” Mrs. Oluwatuyi said in the statement.