President Bola Tinubu has approved the removal of all restrictions on the students' loans to allow access by any willing student or household.

The President has also directed all authorities in Federal Institutions to avoid arbitrary increase of fees payable by students or defer same so that parents and students won't face more difficulties.

These were contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, released on Monday.

According to the law, to be eligible for the loan, an applicant’s income or family income must be less than N500,000 per annum.

Students must also provide at least two guarantors, each of whom must either be a civil servant of at least level 12, a lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience, or a judicial officer, or a justice of peace.

Section 15 of the act states that a student will be disqualified from taking the loan if they have been found guilty of examination malpractice by any school authority, or convicted of a felony or any offence involving dishonesty or fraud, amongst other restrictions.

It is however not clear which of the restrictions the Tinubu's administration would be relaxing or if it would be returning the law to the national assembly for amendments.

 

 

Read the statement below:

In furtherance of his desire to ease the burden of the fuel subsidy removal on students of higher institutions of learning, President Bola Tinubu has approved provision of buses to the students' bodies of all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.

The desire of the President is to see that students can access their campuses without much difficulty as a result of higher transportation costs.

The provision of the buses will also remove the burden of additional cost of daily commuting on parents and guardians.

In line with his promise to ensure no Nigerian student abandons his or her educational pursuits as a result of lack of money and economic circumstances of their parents, President Tinubu has also approved the removal of all restrictions on the students' loan to make it available to any student or household that may desire it.

Similarly, President Tinubu has directed the authorities in all Federal Institutions of higher learning to avoid arbitrary increase in sundry fees payable and where possible defer further increase so that parents and students don't face too many difficulties.

While it is important to reiterate that President Tinubu has directed release of over 200,000 Metric Tonnes of grains to families in 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the government is working to ensure that vulnerable students can also benefit from conditional cash transfers and food distribution.

The Federal Government salutes the courage, wisdom and partnership of Nigerian Students as our country navigates this challenging time.

President Tinubu will continue to prioritise education and the needs of the students, improve welfare of teaching and non-academic staff and invest in infrastructure to make our institutions of higher learning become more globally competitive.

 

Dele Alake

Special Adviser to the President

Special Duties, Communications & Strategy

July 31, 2023