The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has indicated that various tertiary students may have obtained disbursements from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund without informing their guardians.
Oyedele shared this perspective during an interaction with an attendee who stated that his three university-attending children had not benefited from NELFUND provisions and were unfamiliar with any peers who had obtained the assistance.
Addressing journalists during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Oyedele advised the media practitioner to query his children regarding whether they submitted applications for the initiative and demand verification of their submissions.
“It is possible they’ve collected the money, and they are collecting from you,” the minister said. He added, “You need to ask your children to be honest with you”.
Oyedele noted that the individual could assist his children with the application process if they had not yet registered.
“If there’s anything that everyone can attest to, it is this NELFUND,” he said. The minister also referenced video clips showing students celebrating upon receiving payouts, highlighting that the program provides benefits beyond registration fees.
“We’ve seen video of student randomly rejoicing because it’s not only the tuition that was being paid, they get monthly stipend interest free in a high inflationary environment,” he said.
Oyedele stated that beneficiaries could obtain up to N1.5 million through the initiative and encouraged parents who were unfamiliar with the portal to guide their children through registration. “You can go to the website. In fact, what you can do, ask any of those your three children to give you their details. Help them apply.
“If you can’t find the link, come to Ministry of Finance. We will help you. You will do it yourself. You apply for one of those three children and you get the amount,” he said.
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The minister emphasized that the reporter should confirm whether his children had actually completed the application process.
“The Honourable Minister is saying we should even ask you whether they’ve shown you the evidence that they applied. You need to go and ask them,” he said.
Furthermore, Oyedele revealed that registration for NELFUND assistance recorded greater engagement across northern regions compared to the South.
“Interestingly, the uptake is more in the North than in the South because we spend all our energy here doubting everything that government does,” he said.
He highlighted that internal feedback regarding the initiative demonstrated that applicants consistently received payment notifications following successful submissions.
Oyedele also recounted his past efforts supporting financially constrained students through his private philanthropic foundation, observing that several beneficiaries continued requesting financial aid even after he directed them toward existing empowerment channels.
“Many of them were still coming to me after I said go and apply. I sent link to them within two weeks. They said we got alerts,” he said.
