The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has issued a strong warning to tertiary institutions over the continued delay or refusal to refund students who had already paid their tuition fees before the fund settled the payments on their behalf.
In a statement released on Monday by its Director of Strategic Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, the agency also condemned the arbitrary increase in tuition fees and other institutional charges, describing the practices as unfair to students.
According to NELFUND, the student loan scheme was created to remove financial barriers preventing Nigerians from accessing higher education, not to place additional financial burdens on beneficiaries.
“NELFUND has noted with concern reports that some tertiary institutions are delaying or refusing to refund students whose tuition fees had already been paid before NELFUND disbursements. We are also concerned about arbitrary increases in tuition and other institutional charges,” the statement said.
The agency stressed that it is already engaging affected institutions and relevant authorities to ensure that all eligible students receive their refunds promptly while ensuring that fees charged by institutions remain transparent and reasonable.
NELFUND reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the interests of students and preserving the credibility of the federal government’s student loan programme.
The warning follows complaints by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), which said it had received numerous reports from students alleging that their institutions had failed to refund tuition payments months after NELFUND had disbursed the funds directly to the schools.
Established in April 2024 after President Bola Tinubu signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Act into law, NELFUND has continued to expand access to higher education financing across the country.
As of June 25, 2026, the fund disclosed that it had disbursed approximately ₦282 billion for tuition fees and student upkeep allowances, benefiting more than 1.5 million students across 301 tertiary institutions nationwide.
