The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NEL FUND) has stated that NIN, BVN are mandatory for student loans, and it is important for all students to have their National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) in order to access the loan.
Students are also required to bring their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination Registration number. Mr. Akintude Sawyer, the Managing Director of NELFUND, shared this information in an interactive session with some members of the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN).
He also disclosed that the Fund is targeting about 1.2 million beneficiaries in the first phase of the loan disbursements.
He informed that the fund is targeted to benefit only about 1.2 million beneficiaries in its first loan disbursement.
He said, “About 1.2 million Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and government-recognized skill acquisition centres will be among the first batch of beneficiaries.”
The source of the fund
According to the managing director, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) generates 1% annually to fund the loan scheme.
He also said that the loan management scheme has to verify some applications and attached requirements to verify eligibility. He also said the disbursement would be in two segments.
“The school fee will be paid to the institution on behalf of the student and the stipend directly to the student’s account,” he said.
He said the indigents can apply for the loan on the website and must provide their matriculation details. He said that all beneficiaries are expected to start servicing the loan when they secure jobs or set up businesses.
Remember that President Bola Tinubu before now had earlier this month signed into law a newly revised student loan Re-enactment Bill,2024.
During the Senate and the House of Representatives evaluating the committee on Tertiary institutions and TETFund’s findings.
The executive bill, known as “A Bill for an Act to repeal the Students Loans Act, 2023, and to Enact the Student Loans Bill, 2024,” aims to create the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
According to Mr. Sawyerr, NIN is also an important document that is required to access the loan to confirm eligibility.
According to the National Identity Management Commission, the number of enrolled individuals is still around 105 million. Registration was slow some years back because there was no NIN until the government made it mandatory.
The Head of Corporate Communications at the Commission, Mr Kayode Adegoke, earlier this week said the target of NIMC is to make sure that all Nigerians have the NIN in the next two years. He said.
“As of today, over 105 million NIN have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents. We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians.”
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