The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has dismissed as false a viral report claiming that students who fail to repay their education loans after graduation would face life imprisonment.
In a post shared on its official X account on Sunday, the Fund described the publication as “fake news”.
It also released an image of the circulated newspaper front page with a bold red “FAKE” stamp to show that the claim did not come from the Federal Government.
The doctored publication, dated Thursday, May 27, 2027, falsely alleged that President Bola Tinubu said, “All students who fail to repay their loan after graduation will go to jail for life.” NELFUND said the report was fabricated and urged the public to disregard the misleading information.
The Agency explained that the scheme, established under the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act and re-enacted in 2024, provides interest-free loans to eligible students in public tertiary institutions.
According to the law, repayment starts two years after the completion of the National Youth Service Corps and only when a beneficiary is employed or earning an income.
Consequently, employers are required to deduct 10 per cent of a beneficiary’s monthly earnings at source until the loan is fully repaid.
