Students applying for loans through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) can challenge school fee figures shown in its portal, Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr said, giving applicants a channel to dispute listed charges.
BusinessDay reported Friday that Sawyerr described the feature in a Lagos interview on Thursday, Oct. 29. Applicants can review their school’s listed charges before applying and raise a dispute through what he called a “price resolution or price dispute” option, the outlet reported.
Sawyerr also said NELFUND would not fund institutions that raise fees beyond a certain level, BusinessDay reported. The outlet did not give a threshold or explain how the fund would measure increases or make funding decisions.
Earlier accounts had described a dispute control. Segio Online Services wrote on Sept. 24 that the student portal already offered a “Fee Disputes” option. Myschool later published a notice it attributed to Emmanuel Alayande University of Education’s management, telling students with fee discrepancies not to use the feature while the institution worked to resolve them.
The process relies on records schools provide, Sawyerr said, according to BusinessDay. Schools must upload student names, birth dates, courses and matriculation numbers; missing records can cause portal errors.
In an earlier interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, Sawyerr said institutions submit course fee schedules for student verification and applicants could contest amounts that differed from their actual charges. “They have always been able to challenge that process,” he said.
The 2024 Student Loans Act authorizes NELFUND loans for tuition, fees, other charges and upkeep at approved institutions. President Bola Tinubu signed the law April 3, 2024, the State House said.
