Student loan: Tinubu names the NELFund's new management group

The nomination of a managing director and two executive directors to the National Education Loan Fund’s management team was approved by President Bola Tinubu on Friday.

Among them are Mr. Frederick Akinfala as Executive Director, Finance and Administration; Mr. Mustapha Iyal as Executive Director, Operations; and Akintunde Sawyerr as Managing Director.

The appointments are “in line with his determination to secure Nigeria’s socio-economic future by ensuring sustainable higher education and critical skill development for all Nigerian students and the youth,” said the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement he signed Friday.

The statement is titled, ‘President Tinubu appoints management team of the Nigerian Education Loan fund.’

Two days after Tinubu signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, this development occurred on Friday.

He signed the executive bill titled “A Bill for an Act to Repeal the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2023 and Enact the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill, 2004 to Establish the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as a body corporate to receive, manage and invest funds to provide loans to Nigerians for higher education, vocational training and skills acquisition and for related matters” in the presence of the leadership of the National Assembly, Ministers and Major Stakeholders of Education.

This came after the report of the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund was separately reviewed by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

There were a few issues with the 2023 Act related to administration and governance, the goal of the loans, applicant eligibility, application process, loan recovery, and repayment terms.

To “assist the Managing Director in performing his duties,” the newly signed version permits the nomination of a Chairperson of the fund, a Managing Director, and two Executive Directors of Finance and Operations, respectively.

The Act stated that the appointees “shall hold office for five years.”

Additionally, it transformed the Loan Fund into a corporate entity with the powers it had not previously had, such as the capacity to enter into agreements with applicants for loans or to take legal action to collect loans from beneficiaries.

The President states that he anticipates the management team’s appointment to bring about the “expeditiously put in place for the effective take-off of this pivotal Fund for the immediate and lasting benefit of Nigerian students and families in all parts of the country.”