The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyerr, announced that 30,000 students have signed up for the student loan scheme.

Additionally, more than 60,000 people have registered on the fund’s website.

On June 12, 2023, President Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act into law, allowing needy students to get interest-free loans for their studies at any Nigerian university.

This was part of Tinubu’s campaign promise to make education funding more accessible, according to Dele Alake, a former member of the Presidential Strategy Team.

The new law, known as the Students Loan Law, set up the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to handle all loan applications, grants, disbursements, and recoveries.

Though the government initially planned to launch the scheme in September, delays led to its indefinite postponement in March.

The delay was due to President Tinubu’s order to expand the scheme to include loans for vocational training.

After a briefing from the NELFUND team, led by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, on January 22, the President directed that the interest-free loans also be available to students pursuing skill-development programs.