Federal Government Postpones Student Loan Scheme Launch Indefinitely

The federal Government has postponed indefinitely the launch of the Student Loan Scheme earlier set to take place on Thursday.

This was made known by Akintunde Sawyer, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), in a Television interview on Tuesday.

Sawyer said that the launch had been postponed as some corrections are being made around the launch itself.

He, however, did not give a new date for the launch.

You wil recall that President Bola 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.

Tinubu’s minister, Dele Alake, who was a member of the then Presidential Strategy Team, said the move was made in fulfilment of one of President Tinubu’s campaign promises to liberalize funding for education.

The Loan Scheme was initially slated to take effect in September, but the implementation was delayed.

Nonetheless, Tinubu remained resolute, asserting that the program would be launched in January 2024.

The presidency then eventually announced that the scheme will be introduced on Thursday, the 14th of March, which has now been postponed