By Safwan Abubakar
When Jabiru Sani received a notification in January 2026 confirming that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) had paid his institutional fees to his school, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), he thought his financial worries were over.
Like many NELFUND beneficiaries, the 400-level students of Education and Extension Services had already paid his school fees before the loan scheme disbursed funds to the university. After completing the refund process, a procedure he said took less than three days, he expected the money he had personally paid to be returned within a reasonable time.
Nearly six months later, he is still waiting.
"NELFUND disbursed my fees in January 2026, and I completed the refund process almost immediately," Jabiru recalled. "But it has now been almost six months, and I have not received anything."
Jabiru’s ordeal reflects the frustrations of several UDUS students who told DIGEST PRESS that although NELFUND had paid their institutional fees, they were yet to receive refunds for payments they had earlier made themselves.
According to Jabiru, he was disappointed to learn that while NELFUND had fulfilled its obligation by releasing the funds, the corresponding refund had not been paid to affected students. He said repeated enquiries yielded little explanation regarding the delay.
"This is not even the first time," he explained. "There was a period when my portal showed that I had been refunded, but nothing reflected in my account. It took almost a week of complaints before the status changed, and after another two weeks, I eventually received the payment."
For students who depend on the funds to offset living expenses and other academic needs, the prolonged wait has raised questions about the efficiency of the refund process and the accountability mechanisms surrounding the management of NELFUND-related payments.
"We do not understand why UDUS is still holding our money for months without refunding students or providing any explanation, especially after the refund procedures have been completed," Jabiru said.
His experience is not isolated. Interviews conducted by DIGEST PRESS indicate that several students have expressed similar concerns, alleging prolonged delays between the disbursement of institutional fees by NELFUND and the eventual refund of excess payments to beneficiaries by the school.
Findings by DIGEST PRESS further indicate that delayed NELFUND refunds have remained a recurring issue at UDUS since the introduction of the NELFUND loan scheme.
On the 23rd of September, 2024, the university officially announced the receipt of ₦226,931,440 from NELFUND as institutional fees for 2,536 students, representing the first batch of beneficiaries for the 2024/2025 academic session. Despite the announcement, many students reported waiting several months before receiving refunds for fees they had already paid.
The situation resurfaced during the 2025/2026 academic session.
On the 21st of January 2026, UDUS confirmed receiving another institutional fee disbursement from NELFUND and directed affected students to submit refund applications. However, several beneficiaries who complied with the directive told DIGEST PRESS they were still awaiting payment months later.
Understanding NELFUND
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) was established under the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on 3rd of April, 2024, to improve access to higher education by providing interest-free institutional loans and upkeep support for eligible Nigerian students.
The Fund officially opened its student loan application portal on 24th of May, 2024, allowing students in public tertiary institutions to apply for tuition and upkeep support. Under the scheme, institutional fees are paid directly to universities, while upkeep allowances are paid into students' personal bank accounts.
Where a beneficiary had already paid institutional fees before NELFUND made payment to the university, the institution is expected to refund the excess payment after verifying the student's claim. It is this refund process that has become the subject of complaints by some UDUS students interviewed by DIGEST PRESS.
Since its launch, NELFUND has grown into Nigeria's largest tertiary education financing programme. As of July 2026, the Fund has received 1,800,489 loan applications and supported 1,635,676 students across 315 tertiary institutions nationwide. So far, it has disbursed ₦303.91 billion, comprising ₦190.06 billion paid directly to institutions as institutional fees and ₦113.85 billion paid to students as upkeep allowances.
Refunded on Paper, Unpaid in Reality
Aisha Mika, a 400-level student of English language, said the delay has stretched far beyond a few months.
She told DIGEST PRESS that she personally paid her institutional fees for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic sessions before later benefiting from NELFUND. After Nelfund disbursed her institutional fees to UDUS, she immediately applied for refunds as instructed by the university.
Despite completing the refund process, she says she has yet to receive a single refund out of the two.
"I paid my school fees before applying for NELFUND. Later, NELFUND paid the fees, so I applied for a refund, but the university has not refunded my money," she lamented
According to Aisha, she submitted refund applications multiple times and repeatedly visited the designated office to follow up on her case.
"I've gone there several times to submit letters and make oral complaints. Sometimes, I wouldn't even meet the officer handling the process."
She said the university offered no clear explanation for the prolonged delay beyond instructing students to submit application letters containing their bank details, evidence of payment and personal information.
More troubling, Aisha said her student portal at one point indicated that her 2023/2024 refund had been processed, however, no money was credited to her account.
"The portal showed that I had been refunded, but I never received the payment, even though other students got theirs."
Aisha initiated her 2024/2025 refund application on the 13th of August, 2025, while the 2023/24 was initiated since 2024, but as of the time of this report, the two applications remains pending. The prolonged delay, she said, has placed additional strain on her personal finances.
When Persistent Delay Prompts Legal Action
Document obtained by DIGEST PRESS shows that on the 19th of January 2026, the law firm A.M. Jariri & Co. petitioned the university on behalf of affected students, alleging prolonged delays in refunding institutional fees already paid by NELFUND.
The petition argued that while NELFUND had fulfilled its statutory responsibility by paying beneficiaries' tuition, many students who had earlier paid their fees remained without refunds despite completing the university's required procedures.
The legal action followed complaints from beneficiaries affected by both the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 refund batches.
According to earlier report by Pen Press, attempts to submit the petition encountered administrative resistance. The firm's principal counsel, Barrister A.M. Jariri, reportedly shuttled between the offices of the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar after the petition was initially declined at the university registry.
Following the failed attempts, the lawyer publicly announced his intention to institute legal proceedings against the university.
Subsequently, according to the report, university officials and members of the academic community intervened, while the Director of Security Services (DSS) facilitated discussions aimed to resolve the dispute without litigation.
Waiting for an Unexpected Alert
Another victim, Shahada*, said she has been waiting for a refund since March 2026, when NELFUND successfully paid her institutional fees to UDUS after she had already paid the tuition herself.
Having completed the university's refund application process and submitted the required letter to the Bursary Department, she expected the excess payment to be returned within a reasonable period.
Months later, however, her application has made little progress.
"My tuition fees were successfully disbursed by NELFUND in March after I had already paid the fees myself. I completed the refund application process and submitted all the required documents, but my refund status still shows 'Initialized' and has not been approved," she told Digest Press.
According to her, there has been no official communication explaining the prolonged delay.
"The only information available to me is that my refund status is still showing 'Initialized.' I have not received any explanation for why it has remained that way for several months," she explained.
Shahada, who resides at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), said the distance from the university Nelfund office has limited her ability to make repeated follow-up visits or lodge complaints in person.
She said the delay has taken both a financial and academic toll.
"The university is owing me ₦115,860. My phone is currently faulty, and I had hoped to use the refund to buy a new one. As a student, having a functional phone is essential for my academic activities," she lamented.
She urged the university to improve the refund process by ensuring timely payments and providing students with regular updates on the status of their applications instead of being left uncertain.
Graduation Before Disbursement, Refund Still Out of Reach
Shamsudden Abubakar, a graduate from English Education, said his institutional fees were disbursed by NELFUND after he had completed his studies, leaving him uncertain about whether he would ever receive the refund.
According to him, he applied for the student loan during his final semester while still an undergraduate. Although his NELFUND dashboard later showed that about ₦80,000 had been successfully disbursed to UDUS, he said he has yet to receive the corresponding refund despite submitting an application.
"I applied for the loan while I was still a student. The money was later disbursed after I had graduated, and my dashboard shows that the institutional fees were paid to the university. But I have not received my refund," he lamented.
Shamsudden said he did not pursue the matter aggressively after learning that several other students, especially those still on campus, were experiencing similar delays.
"I applied for a refund, but I didn't insist because I saw that many students on campus had not received theirs. A friend even told me the university declined to refund him because he had graduated."
He said the delay has denied him an opportunity to invest in a journalism venture he had planned to establish.
"The university owes me about ₦80,000. I intended to use the money to start a small newsroom and employ campus reporters. That plan could not materialise because the refund has not come," he explained.
He urged the university to treat the refunds as a matter of urgency, stressing that the money belongs to the beneficiaries.
National Spotlight on Delayed Refunds, Nelfund Intervanes
The concerns raised by UDUS students mirror a growing national controversy over delays in NELFUND refunds.
On the 29th of June 2026, NELFUND issued a public notice condemning reports that some tertiary institutions were delaying or refusing to refund students whose tuition fees had already been paid before the Fund's disbursement. The agency said it was engaging affected institutions and relevant authorities to ensure eligible students receive their refunds.
Later, on 6th July 2026, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, While speaking with Arise TV, disclosed that 34 tertiary institutions across Nigeria were under investigation over allegations that they failed to refund students whose tuition fees had been paid twice under the Federal Government's student loan scheme.
According to Sawyerr, the investigation is being conducted by a five-member committee comprising officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and NELFUND's internal auditors following a surge in complaints from affected students.
"A lot of schools got double payment, some from the students and some from us. The refund process is entirely out of our hands. It is the recipient of the double payments that is obliged to make refunds to the students," Sawyerr said.
He explained that because the student loan scheme commenced in the middle of an academic session, many students had already paid their institutional fees before NELFUND later disbursed the same fees to their institutions, making them eligible for refunds.
While noting that some institutions had promptly refunded affected students, Sawyerr acknowledged that others had failed to do so.
"Some have been very good at this. Others haven't been so good at it. We tend to take the view that perhaps it's not intentional because some institutions simply do not have a proper refund process," he said.
The NELFUND Managing Director also clarified that the agency does not have the legal authority to compel universities to refund students, although many affected beneficiaries have copied complaints to the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
University Denies Responsibility
When contacted, the UDUS NELFUND Desk Officer, Sufiyanu Bello, rejected claims that the university was responsible for most of the delays.
According to him, many outstanding cases involve students who have not completed or submitted the required refund applications.
"The issue of delayed refunds is not from us but, in most cases, from the students. Even now, some students are still submitting their applications," he said.
Mr. Sufiyanu disclosed that he recently met with the Chairman of the Students' Union Caretaker Committee and requested that students with outstanding refunds from the 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions submit their applications for verification.
He maintained that once applications are received and verified, eligible students are refunded.
"When students submit their applications, we verify the supporting documents and process the refund if they are entitled to it," he explained.
He further claimed that the university had refunded about 90 per cent of eligible beneficiaries, adding that most outstanding cases were awaiting application submissions, verification or the resolution of banking issues.
"Sometimes, payments fail because of issues with students' bank accounts. Once such problems are corrected, we resend the payment,” he noted.
Effort
All efforts to obtain comments of the UDUS Students Union-Caretaker Committee (SU-CTC) Chairman went unsuccessful. Several Phone calls and text messages sent by this reporter were not responded as of the time of filling this report.
