The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has categorically dismissed a widely circulated and alarming publication that falsely claimed President Bola Tinubu has approved life imprisonment for students who fail to repay their education loans after graduation.
Describing the highly inflammatory claim as “fake news,” the agency moved swiftly to quell growing panic among prospective and current beneficiaries of the scheme. In a detailed post shared on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday, NELFUND directly confronted the misinformation by publishing an image of the purported newspaper front page that had been making the rounds across various social media platforms.
The doctored publication in question featured a glaring chronological error, carrying a futuristic and bizarre date of Thursday, May 27, 2027. It prominently displayed a sensational headline alleging that President Tinubu had issued a draconian decree, stating: “All students who fail to repay their loan after graduation will go to jail for life.”
To ensure there was no ambiguity regarding the authenticity of the circulating image, NELFUND placed a massive, undeniable red “FAKE” stamp across the graphic. This visual confirmation served as a direct signal to the Nigerian public and the student community that the purported announcement was entirely fabricated and did not originate from the federal government or any of its affiliated agencies.
This latest clarification by the Fund is not an isolated incident but rather part of a continuous and frustrating battle against a series of coordinated misinformation campaigns targeting the newly established student loan scheme. In recent weeks, NELFUND has been forced to publicly debunk several other fabricated circulars and internal notices, including baseless rumors claiming that the nationwide student loan disbursement programme had been suspended indefinitely.
The agency’s leadership has repeatedly urged the public to rely exclusively on verified government channels for accurate information regarding the initiative. NELFUND was strategically established under the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, a landmark piece of legislation that was initially signed into law by President Tinubu and subsequently re-enacted and refined in 2024 to ensure broader accessibility and smoother implementation.
The primary mandate of the Fund is to administer zero-interest loans to eligible Nigerian students enrolled in public tertiary institutions across the country. This financial lifeline is designed to comprehensively cover essential institutional charges and, where applicable, provide vital upkeep allowances to help students navigate the rising cost of living while pursuing their academic goals.
Crucially, the government has built significant safeguards into the repayment structure to ensure that the loan does not become a punitive burden on young graduates. Contrary to the frightening rumors of life imprisonment, the reality of the repayment framework is highly accommodating. Repayment of the principal amount does not commence immediately upon graduation. Under the current legal and operational framework, the obligation to begin repaying the loan only becomes due two years after a beneficiary has successfully completed their mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
Furthermore, the government has tied this repayment obligation directly to the beneficiary’s economic capacity, specifically requiring that the graduate is either actively employed or generating a verifiable income. For those beneficiaries who secure paid employment in either the public or private sector, the repayment mechanism is designed to be seamless. Exactly ten percent of their monthly salary, wages, and other regular income is automatically deducted at the source by their employer, who is then legally obligated to remit these funds directly to NELFUND.
The scheme also accommodates the growing demographic of entrepreneurial youth. Self-employed beneficiaries and business owners are simply required to accurately calculate and remit ten percent of their total monthly business profit back to the Fund, ensuring that they contribute their fair share as their businesses grow.
Most importantly, the policy provides a robust safety net for those facing difficult economic realities. Beneficiaries who remain unemployed and have no source of income after the two-year post-NYSC grace period expires are not criminalized or threatened with jail time. Instead, they are permitted to legally seek an extension of their grace period by providing a sworn statement or affidavit detailing their employment status, exactly in the manner prescribed by the NELFUND Board. This empathetic approach underscores the scheme’s core mission: to empower Nigerian youth through education, rather than penalize them for circumstances beyond their control.
