President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, signed into law the Students’ Loan Bill passed by the National Assembly, in fulfilment of his electoral campaign promises.
The students’ loan bill provides for interest-free loans to indigent Nigerian studentsz and it was sponsored by the outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The law is to provide easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF).
A statement by the federal government said the funds will be domiciled in the Ministry of Education and will only be accessed by indigent students of tertiary institutions.
How to apply for the FG students’ loan
Students applying for loan under this Act must apply to the Chairman of the Bank through their respective institutions upon satisfaction of the following conditions:
(1) Student must have secured admission into any public Nigerian University,Polytechnic, COE or TVET school
(2) Applicant income or family income must be less than N500,000 per annum;
(3) Applicant must provide at least two civil servants as guarantors: of not less than level 12 years in service; or a Lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience; a Judicial officer; or a Justice of Peace.
(4) Students who have defaulted in previous loans; found guilty of exam malpractices, felony, drug offenses will not be considered.
(5) Students with parents who have defaulted in respect of previous loans will not be considered.
(6) All Applications will be submitted through the Students Affairs Office of each Institution via a list of all qualified applicants from the institution accompanied by a cover letter signed by the Vice Chancellor or Rector or the head of the institution and the student affairs.
(7) Any beneficiary of the loan to which this Act refers shall commence repayment two years after completion of the National Youth Service Corps programme.
(Repayment shall be by direct deduction of 10% of the beneficiaries salary at source by the employer.
(8) Where the beneficiary is self employed, he shall remit 10% of his
total profit monthly to the Students loan account to be prescribed by the Bank.
