The Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024 has been passed into law by the National Assembly after scaling through the first, second and third reading in the parliament.
The bill aims to provide easy access to higher education for citizens through interest free loan from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund established in the act to provide education for all Nigerians.
The student loan Bill was signed into law in June by President Tinubu into law. But last week the President wrote to lawmakers seeking a re-enactment of the Bill to remove some conditions that could affect its sustainable implementation.
The upper legislative chamber passed the Bill for a third reading after considering the report of the Senate committee on tertiary institutions and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
The executive bill titled “A Bill for an Act to repeal the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2023 and Enact the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill, 2004 to Establish the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as a body corporate to receive, manage and invest funds to provide loans to Nigerians for higher education, vocational training and skills acquisition and related matters,” will replace the current Act when signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
It is however expected that the Bill will receive speedy approval from the President and kick off as hoped.
According to an explanatory memorandum made available to reporters, President Tinubu proposed amendment to the act includes the removal of the family income threshold as a yardstick for applying for the student loan.
It also removed the guarantor requirement so that students can apply for and receive loans subject to application and identity verification guidelines as provided by the Fund.
Moreover, those who apply can no longer be disqualified based on their parents’ loan history.
It established a justice and fairness provision, mandating the board to ensure a minimum national spread of loans approved and disbursed in each financial year.
The bill stated that on repayment of loans, repayment will begin as soon as the beneficiary becomes employed in any capacity.
The aforementioned loan pointed out that any person who provides a false statement to the Fund under this section is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.
It also makes provision for loan forgiveness in the event of death or acts of God causing inability to repay, among others.
