Unijos Clarifies Stance on NELFUND Disbursement in the Institution

UNIVERSITY OF JOS, JOS NIGERIA

(OFFICE OF THE VICE-CHANCELLOR)

INFORMATION, PUBLICATIONS, PUBLIC RELATIONS & PROTOCOL DIVISION

PRESS RELEASE

UNIJOS CLARIFIES STANCE ON NELFUND DISBURSEMENT, ASSURES OF TRANSPARENT PROCESS

The University of Jos says reports linking the University to any infractions in the disbursement of funds from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), are not only false and misleading, but are clearly unfounded because all funds provided to the University by NELFUND were properly credited to the beneficiaries as approved.

In a detailed clarification, the NELFUND Unijos Desk Office explained that the University Administration has put in place a dedicated mechanism to ensure that all NELFUND matters are treated appropriately and expeditiously. Strategic Team member, NELFUND Unijos Desk Office, Mr. Daniel Yakmut, confirmed that the institution has strictly followed all laid down procedures since the introduction of the NELFUND initiative. He assured that the School Charges structure submitted to NELFUND was accurate and not higher than the amount that the Students are required to pay as was insinuated by the unsubstantiated report published by the Guardian Newspaper of Tuesday 29th April, 2025. According to Mr Yakmut, who is also the University’s Director of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), had the author of the highly contentious article bothered to seek clarification from the University, the institution would have shed more light on the institutional charges schedule, beneficiaries’ data and how the funds disbursements were made.

Mr Yakmut debunked unproven claims that the University of Jos surcharged the NELFUND beneficiaries a higher Fee than the University’s approved Fee structure and subsequently diverted the balance into the University’s coffers. He revealed that in the 2023/2024 Academic Session, out of 10,617 Students who applied for the Loan Scheme, only 6,988 Students have so far benefitted from the disbursement having satisfied all NELFUND requirements.

In an interview with the University’s Information and Publications Division, Mr Yakmut is quoted as saying “When NELFUND began, we uploaded the required Students data alongside a comprehensive Fee Schedule. This Fee Schedule covered each Level, Faculty, and Department, as structured by NELFUND's Students Verification Portal. The University outlined the approved Fees for 2023/2024 Academic Session, with a variation between Science and most Non-Science programmes due to Laboratory and Studio Charges. We had ₦165,000 (inclusive of ₦25,000 Laboratory Fees) charged for 100-Level Science-based programmes and ₦140,000 for Non-Science programmes which do not have Lab and Studio Charges.”

Mr Yakmut further disclosed that for 200-Level Students, “Students with Lab/Studio/Workshop components were charged ₦135,000 while Students without such components were charged ₦110,000. Students from 300-Level and above with Lab/Studio/Workshop paid ₦130,000 and those without Lab/Studio/Workshop paid ₦105,000. It must be noted that some Arts and Social Science programmes such as Fine Arts which have Lab/Studio/Workshop components also charge for those services.”

He explained that major source of confusion arose from the timing of the NELFUND disbursement comparative to the University’s Academic calendar, where approximately 95% of the beneficiaries had already paid their School Charges for the Session before the Loans were credited to the University. In fact, by the time the NELFUND Loans arrived, many of these beneficiaries had moved to the next Level of their studies. “For example, a Student who was in 100-level and paid ₦165,000 would have moved to 200-level by the time the Loans were disbursed. Since they had already paid the prior Session's School Charges, the University credited the disbursed amount to their new Level. As a result, 200-Level Students having Lab/Studio/Workshop practicals received a credit of ₦135,000, with a balance of ₦30,000 remaining in their Ledger Card, leading some Students to mistakenly believe they had been under-credited.”

On the question of refunds, Mr Yakmut clarified that the credited balances remained in the Students' names and are available for use in the next Academic Session. According him “If your School Charges next Session is ₦130,000 and you have ₦30,000 credit, all you need to pay is ₦100,000. So, it’s not that the money disappeared, it’s simply being rolled over.” He emphasized that the University had only issued an advisory, but had not taken a final decision on whether these balances should be refunded and what modalities should be used in case of any such refunds.

The ICT expert further clarified that, for beneficiaries who have graduated but who had already paid their School Charges, they would be fully refunded upon request, provided there was no discrepancy between the NELFUND Loan and the amount that the Student had paid in their final year. Accordingly, the University has been refunding beneficiaries who have graduated once they come forward through a seamless process were their payment records are verified, and the NELFUND Loan refunded to them.

Yakmut encouraged the beneficiaries to reach out to the NELFUND Desk Officer at the Students Account Division of the University’s Bursary Department, the ICT Directorate or the Directorate of Students Affairs for clarifications on the refund processes where applicable.

Signed

Abdullahi Abdullahi 

Senior Deputy Registrar (Information and Publications)