ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has announced that it has disbursed N140.9 billion in student loans since the launch of its application portal on May 24, 2024.
In its Daily Status Report released on Sunday through its official X handle, NELFUND revealed that it has received a total of 1,193,228 applications, with 788,947 students benefiting so far.
As of November 12, 2025, the report recorded 35,773 new successful applications for the week and 3,367 on that particular day, marking a 0.3% rise in new applications compared to the previous day.
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According to NELFUND, it has disbursed N140,884,471,740 to 262 institutions for tuition payments, including N88,947,000 for institutional fees and N53,776,000,000 in upkeep allowances.
The scheme intends to expand its student loan initiative to include vocational and skills acquisition programmes.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, explaining that the expansion supports the Federal Government’s wider education and skills development goals.
He further noted that the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to broad-based human capital development beyond conventional university pathways.
Sawyerr stated that Nigeria’s future growth depends on balancing academic training with technical expertise.
“At NELFUND, we have a mandate to also support vocational skills.
“We have not started yet, but I know that the President Bola Tinubu administration has ensured that there is full coverage around the skills issue,” he said.