The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has dismissed a viral ‘publication’ claiming that students who fail to repay their education loans after graduation could face life imprisonment. The Fund debunked the claim in a post on its official X account on Sunday, describing the publication as fake news. NELFUND’s clarification comes amid continued circulation of misleading information about the Federal Government’s student loan programme, particularly claims concerning loan disbursement, repayment and penalties for beneficiaries. What NELFUND is saying
NELFUND described the publication as “fake news” while sharing an image of the purported newspaper front page circulating online. The purported publication, dated Thursday, May 27, 2027, carried a headline claiming that President Tinubu had declared: “All students who fail to repay their loan after graduation will go to jail for life.”
NELFUND marked the purported front page with a prominent red “FAKE” stamp, indicating that the claim did not originate from the government. NELFUND did not announce any new criminal penalty for beneficiaries who fail to repay their student loans. When are students actually expected to repay?
Under the existing student loan framework, beneficiaries are not expected to begin repaying their loans immediately after graduation. Repayment is scheduled to begin two years after a beneficiary completes the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), provided the beneficiary has secured employment.
NELFUND Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, previously explained that the two-year period is intended to give graduates time to find employment and become financially stable. For employed beneficiaries, the repayment is made through deductions from their earnings. Employers are required to deduct 10% of a beneficiary’s salary and remit it to NELFUND. Self-employed beneficiaries are expected to make the repayment themselves. Beneficiaries who remain unemployed after the two-year period are not expected to make repayments until they secure employment or begin earning an income. NELFUND has also previously said that unemployed beneficiaries can seek an extension under the applicable process.
The repayment framework therefore does not require graduates to begin repaying immediately after graduation, as suggested by the viral publication. Get up to speed
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) was established under the revised Student Loan Act signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in April 2024, replacing the 2023 legislation and creating the framework for government-backed loans to students in higher education and vocational training institutions. The student loan application portal officially opened on May 24, 2024, initially targeting students in federal tertiary institutions before the programme was expanded to state-owned institutions. Since its rollout, the scheme has grown significantly.
Nairametrics reported in March 2026 that NELFUND had disbursed N206.29 billion to 1.16 million beneficiaries across 270 institutions, covering institutional fees and student upkeep allowances. By August 2026, the amount disbursed had risen to N322.69 billion, with N192.89 billion paid as institutional fees and N129.80 billion released to students as upkeep allowances. The most recent figures show that disbursements have since risen to N355.87 billion.
NELFUND said in its Student Loan Disbursement Status Report generated on September 3, 2026, that it had processed 1,659,853 applications. Of the total disbursement, N192.89 billion was paid to 319 beneficiary institutions as institutional fees, while N162.98 billion was disbursed directly to students as upkeep allowances. What you should know
The Federal Government is also taking steps to strengthen the quality and competitiveness of Nigeria’s tertiary education system through a new approach to ranking universities and other higher institutions.
Nairametrics reported on September 2, 2026, that the government plans to strengthen Nigeria’s national tertiary institution ranking system and develop a credible framework that could serve as a benchmark for higher education institutions across Africa. Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the government had met with the Nigerian University Ranking Advisory Committee and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund to discuss measures for improving the country’s ranking framework and institutional performance.
