The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) don begin test new payment system wey go help stop students from paying school fees twice and reduce wahala wey dey happen when dem need refund their money.

NELFUND Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, reveal this on Wednesday during press briefing. E explain say the new system go allow students to approve payment of their school fees directly to their institutions through special tokens wey link to their schools.

Under the arrangement, students go use application for their phones to authorise payment from their approved loan money directly to their schools, instead of receiving the school fees money for their personal bank accounts.

Sawyerr explain say the new system go address cases where students pay their school fees without knowing say NELFUND don already send the money to their institutions.


According to am, delay in informing students about completed payments don make some beneficiaries pay the same fees twice, leading to refund problems.

E explain say sometimes NELFUND fit pay a school, but the student no go know about the payment and go ahead to pay the same fees again because the school deadline dey near.

Sawyerr give example of a situation where NELFUND pay a school on Monday, but a student wey no know about the payment pay the same fees on Wednesday and only discover on Friday say the fund don already settle the bill.

E describe the situation as genuine mistake wey no involve suspicion or accusation.

The managing director say the new system go help prevent this kind problem by allowing students to initiate their payments and ensure say the money enter their schools’ accounts directly.

E explain say students go receive notification once their approved school fees dey ready for payment. Dem fit then use their phones to authorise the transaction.

Once the student approve the payment, the money go move directly to the designated school, reducing the chance of paying fees wey NELFUND don already cover.

Sawyerr stress say the arrangement no mean say government dey give students cash. Instead, the system go give dem control over when to authorise payment, while restricting where the money fit go.

The system no go allow students transfer the approved school fees money to their personal bank accounts or redirect am to another institution.

When journalists ask whether students fit move the money to their personal accounts after receiving am through a wallet, Sawyerr explain say the token system go restrict the money to the school wey government approve the payment for.

E say even if a student get N200,000 approved for school fees, the student go only fit authorise payment to the particular school account wey dey attached to the token.

If the student no authorise the payment, the money no go move anywhere. E no go fit enter the student’s personal account or another person account.

NELFUND Executive Director, Mustapha Iyal, also explain say the token go link directly to a particular school. E clarify say the system no be personal wallet or mobile money account.

Iyal confirm say the pilot programme don begin and the fund don receive close to 400,000 applications as of the time of the briefing.

However, the officials no explain how many of the applications don already pass through the new payment system or give a specific date for when the arrangement go fully begin across institutions.

NELFUND dey manage the Federal Government student loan programme wey the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024 establish. The programme provide eligible Nigerian students with interest-free loans to pay school charges and, where dem apply and get approval, money for their upkeep.

Under the existing arrangement, NELFUND dey pay approved school charges directly to students’ institutions, while upkeep allowance dey enter students’ bank accounts.

This difference important because the new token system concern payment of school fees, no be the normal upkeep money wey eligible students fit receive for their personal accounts.

The loan programme aim to reduce the financial burden of higher education and help students wey fit struggle to pay their school expenses.

However, the payment process require proper coordination between NELFUND, students and their institutions to make sure say applications receive approval, payments reach the correct accounts and records remain accurate.

The new arrangement aim to reduce problems wey happen when students pay their fees before their schools receive money from NELFUND.

By allowing students to authorise payment through tokens wey link to their institutions, the fund hope to prevent duplicate payments and reduce the need for refunds.

The success of the system go depend on how well students, schools and NELFUND coordinate payment approval and confirmation, especially when schools set deadlines for fee payment and registration.