The President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Student Loan Bill into law, says a senior aide to the president, Dele Alake, who disclosed this to State House Correspondents on Monday evening.
According to Alake, the bill will enable Nigerian students to access loans at interest-free rates.
Alake said the bill would boost the educational pursuit of the youths across the country, adding that to enjoy the facility, students must show evidence of being indigent.
He said that a committee drawn from all the relevant education stakeholders would be set up to handle the process of an efficient disbursement of the loans.
Alake said that a percentage of the revenue of the Federation would be used to finance the new initiative.
Mr Andrew Adejo, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, said the bill would rest the case of lack of funds hindering indigents’ educational pursuit.
He said the signing of the bill signified how the Tinubu administration intended to handle the issue of qualitative and quantitative education in its period.
Adejo said the ministry already had experience in students’ financial dealings through the student scholarship boards scheme.
He added that the country’s handling of loan recovery in various projects would also come in handy in the recouping of loans.
He added that the interest-free loan would be disbursed based on the student’s number of years of study and ability to pay back.
The permanent secretary said the media should assist in disseminating information on the issue of funding of education in the country.
H said the states should march the financial and technical support of the Federal Government in order to give Nigerians good education.
The Students Loan Bill recommended two years imprisonment or N500,000 or both for students who default in repayment or anyone found aiding defaulters.
The piece of legislation passed second reading at the House of Representatives on May 25, 2023.
The bill, which was sponsored by Gbajabiamila, was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to provide for easy access to higher education for Nigerians through an interest-free loan from the Nigerian Education Bank established in this Act to provide education for Nigerians and other purposes connected thereto.’
According to the bill, students applying for loans under this Act must apply to the Chairman of the Bank through their respective institutions upon satisfying of the following conditions:
i. Student must have secured admission into any public Nigerian University, Polytechnic, college of education or any TVET school; Applicant income or family income must be less than N500,000 per annum; Applicant must provide at least two civil servants as guarantors: of not less than level 12 years in service; or a Lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience; a Judicial officer; or a Justice of Peace.
ii. Students who have defaulted on previous loans; found guilty of exam malpractice, felony, or drug offences will not be considered.
iii. Students with parents who have defaulted in respect of previous loans will not be considered.
Following the satisfaction of the conditions listed above, applications for the loans will be submitted through the Students Affairs Office of each institution via a list of all qualified applicants from the institution accompanied by a cover letter signed by the Vice-Chancellor or Rector or the head of the institution and the Student Affairs.
On the repayment, the act states that “Any beneficiary of the loan to which this Act refers shall commence repayment two years after completion of the National Youth Service Corps programme. Repayment shall be by direct deduction of 10 per cent of the beneficiary’s salary at source by the employer.
“Where the beneficiary is self-employed, he shall remit 10 per cent of his total profit monthly to the student loan account to be prescribed by the bank.
“For the purpose of sub-section 3 above, a self-employed person shall, within 60 days of assuming that status, submit all information such as the name of business, address and location, registration documents, registered, name of bankers, names of partners, name of directors and shareholders to the Commission.
“Anyone in default of the provisions of sub-section 4 above or found to be aiding the default of any of the provisions of this Act is guilty of an offence and, if convicted, shall be liable to imprisonment for two years or a fine of N500,000 or both.”
