President Bola Tinubu has signed the National Student Loan Re-enactment bill into law.
The president signed the bill into law on Wednesday at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja in the presence of the leadership from the National Assembly, ministers, and major education stakeholders.
The new legislation repeals the previous Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act of 2023 and re-enacts the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill from 2004.
The executive bill establishes the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as a corporate body tasked with receiving, managing and investing funds to provide loans to Nigerians pursuing higher education, vocational training and skills acquisition programs.
Recall that on June 12, 2023, President Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, into law to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans for their educational pursuits in any public Nigerian tertiary institution.
President Tinubu, in his Renewed Hope manifesto, clearly stated that his administration will institute a student loan program following a similar model established by the Kaduna State government in 2018.
In fulfilment of that promise, a few days after the assumption of office, President Tinubu signed the Students Loan bill sponsored by then-House Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila into law.
The Access to Higher Education Act provided for the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to be domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria and administered through an 11-man Special Steering Committee chaired by the CBN Governor.
This special committee comprising representatives from FIRS, Federal Ministry of Education, NUC, and other critical stakeholders has been constituted since last year and held their inaugural meeting on February 19, 2023.
