The Federal Government has deferred the launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme indefinitely.

Akintunde Sawyer, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, made the disclosure during an interview with Arise News yesterday.

The loan scheme which was initially scheduled to begin on Thursday, has been rescheduled once again. Sawyer emphasized that the retard is due to some rectifications being made following the launch.

“Regrettably, I won’t be able to devote to a specified date. We are sort of waiting to make sure that all the key stakeholders are aligned to make sure that no one is blindsided, then we can literally roll this out in a comprehensive, meaningful, sustainable and wholesome way.”

Recall, President Bola Tinubu in June 2023, signed a bill to initiate a Students Loan Fund that would issue interest-free loans to Nigerians for university education.

The bill, subsidized by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, was previously scheduled to start between September and October 2023 precisely.

President Bola Tinubu revealed that the scheme would start in January 2024 after his administration failed to meet the October deadline the previous year.

The Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, announced during a meeting in January that preparations for the program had been concluded. 

This entails the development of the Student Loan Scheme website and planning for the program’s launch.

Tinubu assured the heads of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, during their visit to the State House in FCT, Abuja that the program would begin once its expansion to include additional features such as vocational studies was concluded.