₦355.87 billion has been disbursed. Almost 1.7 million applications have been processed. Most beneficiaries have never been told what repayment actually involves.
NELFUND has disbursed ₦355.87 billion since the student loan portal opened on 24 May 2024. Of that, ₦192.89 billion went to 319 institutions as fees, and ₦162.98 billion went to students as upkeep. By 3 September 2026, the Fund had processed 1,659,853 applications.
The first large cohort of beneficiaries is now approaching the point where the loan stops being free money.
What the scheme commits you to
Repayment does not begin at graduation. The Fund cannot start recovery until two years after you complete NYSC. Repayment begins in the third year.
When it starts, your employer deducts 10 per cent of your monthly income and remits it to NELFUND. Not you, your employer. The remittance is monthly even if you are paid weekly or fortnightly, and employers who fail to remit can be pursued by the Fund directly.
If you work for yourself, the obligation does not disappear. You are expected to calculate your own 10 per cent and pay it to NELFUND yourself.
If you do neither, there is a mechanism waiting. NELFUND can recover from defaulters through the Global Standing Instruction, the same system banks use to pull owed money from any account you hold. Every beneficiary agrees to this when they take the loan.
Unemployment requires a sworn affidavit
Online, the scheme is usually defended as income-contingent, meaning you only repay once you are earning.
NELFUND didn’t cause fee hikes inflation did. The scheme provides zero-interest, income-contingent funding so students don’t drop out. Repayment starts 2 years post-NYSC and only when employed. That’s expanding educational access, not setting a debt trap.
— Ayomide Daniel Oniyide (@OniyideCounts) November 10, 2026
That is broadly true, but it is not automatic. Under the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act 2024, a beneficiary who cannot repay has to apply to pause enforcement by submitting a sworn affidavit stating that they are not employed in any capacity and are not receiving any income.
Swearing that affidavit falsely is not treated as a paperwork error. The Act makes it a felony carrying three years in prison.
Beyond that affidavit, the Act provides no general hardship relief. Loan forgiveness exists only in the event of death, or acts of God that make repayment impossible.
There are also gaps the scheme has not addressed. Postgraduate study is not covered, and beneficiaries have begun asking for it.
I understand that this would require careful planning, funding and clear eligibility criteria. But I believe it is a conversation worth having. I respectfully urge the government and NELFUND to consider a postgraduate loan category with reasonable repayment terms.
— Hon. Alameen (@Oba_Oyekan_) November 11, 2026
The information gap is wide enough to exploit
In January 2026, a circular appearing to come from the University of Benin told indebted students to begin repaying immediately, following a two-step procedure. It spread quickly.
It was fake. NELFUND called the reports false, misleading and unfounded on 24 January, and said it had issued no such instruction. The University of Benin said the circular did not emanate from any authorised source. Africa Check found nothing on either organisation’s official channels.
That a forged repayment notice could travel that far says something about how little beneficiaries know about terms they have already agreed to.
What to hold on to
If you took the loan, three things matter. The rate is 10 per cent of your income. The clock starts two years after NYSC. And if you have no income when it does, the way out is an affidavit you must swear to be true.
