The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has identified 39 tertiary institutions that it says have not refunded students who paid their tuition fees before receiving support through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), calling on the schools to return the money without delay.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, NANS President, Babatunde Akinteye, said the affected institutions had already received tuition payments from NELFUND for eligible students but had not reimbursed those who had earlier settled their fees out of pocket.
Among the institutions listed were Adamawa State University, Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Federal College of Education, Yola, Kaduna State Polytechnic, Ogun State Institute of Technology, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, University of Education, Akamkpa, University of Uyo, Yobe State University, Federal University Lafia and Modibbo Adama University.
Others included Nasarawa State University, Federal College of Forestry, Federal University of Education, Pankshin, Federal Polytechnic Nyak, Plateau State University, Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, Imo State University, Lagos State University of Education, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Kano State College of Education and Preliminary Studies, University of Nigeria, Ebonyi State University, Federal College of Education, Katsina, College of Agriculture Science and Technology and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture.
The list also featured the University of Ilesa, Ogun State Polytechnic of Health and Allied Sciences, Adekunle Ajasin University, Delta State University, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ekiti State University, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, University of Calabar, Rivers State University, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe and Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic.
Akinteye explained that publishing the names of the institutions was intended to strengthen transparency and accountability while ensuring that affected students receive their refunds as quickly as possible.
“The following institutions have received NELFUND tuition payments on behalf of eligible students but are yet to refund students who had already paid their tuition fees before the NELFUND disbursement,” Babatunde said.
📢 Stay Updated — Join Our WhatsApp Channel
💬 Be Part of Our WhatsApp Community
Join our WhatsApp Channel for curated updates, breaking stories, and exclusive insights from our newsroom.
📲 Join 👉 NRTC WhatsApp Channel
He added, “This list is intended to promote transparency, accountability and to ensure that affected students receive the refunds due to them without further delay.”
NANS urged the institutions concerned to speed up the refund process, arguing that students who had already paid their tuition before NELFUND covered the fees should not continue to experience financial difficulties because of administrative bottlenecks.
“Nigerian students should not be made to bear unnecessary financial burdens because of administrative delays,” the association said, adding that the publication of the list was intended to ensure accountability and prompt compliance by the affected schools.
The issue comes amid increasing attention on the implementation of the NELFUND student loan programme, a key education financing initiative introduced by the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The scheme was designed to make higher education more accessible by paying approved tuition fees directly to institutions and providing upkeep support for qualified students.
ALSO READ: “New lies” – Presidency rejects Obi’s claims of threats, business targeting
Despite its objectives, concerns have persisted over delays in reimbursing students whose fees were paid both by themselves and later by NELFUND. Student groups have argued that institutions that receive duplicate tuition payments are obligated to promptly refund the excess funds to affected students.
Delayed refunds have emerged as one of the major challenges linked to the programme, alongside earlier complaints about slow disbursement of students’ upkeep allowances.
NANS maintained that although the loan initiative has expanded access to tertiary education funding, timely refunds are essential to sustaining trust in the programme. The association therefore renewed its demand for greater transparency in the handling of NELFUND payments and called on all affected institutions to refund eligible students without further delay.
