N32.8b Given as Loans to 169,000 Students

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris yesterday highlighted some of the key achievements of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration.
Speaking at a news conference to herald a flurry of ministerial briefings to highlight the scorecards ahead of the second anniversary of the government, he explained that a huge impact had been made in the student loan scheme initiated by the Administration.
According to him, no fewer than 169,000 students got N32.8 billion in tuition and upkeep allowances under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
The student loan is a major campaign promise of the President.
The minister said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed his ministers to present their scorecards to Nigerians.
He said the presidential directive was to keep Nigerians informed about policies and programmes.
Idris said the briefing will allow Nigerians the opportunity to interrogate the activities of the government.
He said: “President Tinubu is determined to ensure that his administration engages and communicates robustly, and this ministerial briefing series is one of the measures he has directed to achieve this goal.
“In 2024, we hosted 25 ministers at these briefings and reached millions of people in Nigeria and abroad on traditional and digital media platforms.
The minister said NELFUND disbursed N32.8 billion to over 169,000 students (N20 billion in school fees and N12.8 billion in upkeep allowances).
On security, Idris said in 2024, the armed forces neutralised more than 8,000 terrorists and bandits, and arrested 11,600 others, with more than 10,000 weapons recovered.
Credit: The Nation NG