According to the Federal Government, the Nigeria Education Loan Scheme recipients’ repayment process will start two years following the National Youth Service Program.
This was disclosed on Thursday in Abuja during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria by Dr. Akintunde Sawyer, the Executive Secretary of the NELFund.
President Bola Tinubu signed the Access to Higher study Act, 2023 into law on June 12, 2023, allowing impoverished students to apply for interest-free loans at any Nigerian postsecondary institution to further their study.
Sawyer clarified, that the two-year grace period following NYSC was intended to provide the beneficiaries adequate time to get employment and establish stability prior to the repayment.
The legislation, stated that students who begin paid employment must repay their loans two years after completing their NYSC, but they are not prohibited from repaying earlier.
Employers will have access to a register of all borrowers so they can know who has taken out a loan.
“Once they discover someone has a loan, they will be required by the payroll system to return 10% of that person’s earnings to the fund when they hire that person,” he stated.
If they are yet to secure employment or if they lose their jobs they are not obliged to pay. we shall assist them while we wait for their payment.
“We are not attempting to convert applicants into lawbreakers but to improve their lives and the social-economic development of the nation as a whole, we are working to assist Nigerians who require higher education in obtaining it, the speaker stated.
If someone chooses to willfully evade the repayment procedure, the law will eventually catch up with them. This might be accomplished anytime the defaulters needed to evaluate any facilities or loans from commercial banks.
The NELFund secretary also urged Nigerians, in light of the program’s many benefits, to refrain from politicizing student loans.