The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has dismissed reports claiming that President Bola Tinubu approved life imprisonment for graduates who fail to repay their student loans.
NELFUND described the claim as false and urged members of the public to disregard it.
The clarification followed the circulation of an image online purportedly showing the front page of a newspaper carrying a report that student loan beneficiaries who defaulted on repayment would face life imprisonment.
Reacting to the development, NELFUND shared the circulating image on its official social media platform and labelled it fake.
NELFUND was established under the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, which was signed into law by President Tinubu and subsequently re-enacted in 2024.
The agency provides interest-free loans to eligible Nigerian students in public tertiary institutions to help them meet approved institutional charges and, where applicable, monthly upkeep expenses.
Under the existing repayment framework, beneficiaries are not required to begin repayment immediately after graduation.
Repayment is scheduled to commence two years after a beneficiary completes the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme or obtains an exemption from the scheme.
However, repayment is linked to employment. Beneficiaries are expected to commence repayment once they secure gainful employment after the applicable waiting period.
NELFUND’s clarification therefore puts to rest the viral claim that graduates who default on their student loans could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
