President Bola Tinubu has signed into law the Student Loan Bill in fulfilment of a promise he made during his campaign.
This was announced on Monday by the spokesperson to the Federal Government Mister Dele Alake, saying that the funds will be domiciled in the Ministry of Education and will only be accessed by indigent students of tertiary institutions.
The student loan bill sponsored by the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, which provides for interest-free loans to indigent Nigerian students, passed the third reading at the House, two weeks ago.
The law is to provide easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
“We are very happy to announce to you that today, just a few minutes ago, the President His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, signed into law, the Student Loans Bill and that Student Loans Bill. You all know what it entails, what it connotes the meaning,” he said.
“This is the promise made during the presidential campaign by the then candidate, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that he will bring back the student loans issue to the front burner and today, that promise he made has been kept.
“He has just signed that bill into law, which henceforth, will allow or enable our indigent students to access federal government loans to fund their educational pursuit or career and this is how it’s done in other developed climes all over the world.”
The Act provides that the Nigerian Education Bank, shall have powers to supervise, coordinate, administer, and monitor the management of student loans in Nigeria.
The Act provides that notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in other enactments, all students seeking higher education in any public institution of higher learning in Nigeria shall have an equal right to access the loan under this Act without any discrimination arising from gender, religion, tribe, position or disability of any kind.
The loan referred to in this Act shall be granted to students only for the payment of Tuition fees. The grant of the loan to any student under this Act shall be subject to the students/applicant(s) satisfying the requirements and conditions set out under this Act.”
It also recommends two years imprisonment or N500,000 or both for students who default in repayment or anyone found aiding defaulters.
In keeping to his campaign promise, interest and quest in ensuring access to higher education, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the legislation that his government promised, will guarantee access to quality higher education to qualified Nigerians.
