Tinubu Signs Student Loan Bill into Law

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the 2023 Student Loan Act into law.

The bill was passed by the 9th National Assembly but assented to by Tinubu on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of measures to boost educational access and delivery at the tertiary level.

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Andrew Adejo, and Dele Alake, a senior aide to the President, both explained that the act will ensure indigent students access the loans to further their education.

According to Alake, the loan initiative was part of what Tinubu promised during his electioneering campaigns.

“Today, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has just signed the Student Loan Act. This is just in fulfilment of his promise during the electioneering campaigns, where he promised that students would access loans to go to school,” he said.

On his part, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education noted that the Federal Scholarship Board, which already exists, was starved of funds and needed an enabling act to work properly, but now that an enabling act is in place, the processes for hitch-free access to education loans will be much easier.

The bill will enable Nigerian students to access loans at interest-free rates.

However, the Students loan bill proposes jail term for defaulters.

The Students Loan Bill recommended two years imprisonment or N500,000 or both for students who default in repayment or anyone found aiding defaulters.

The bill, which was sponsored by Gbajabiamila, was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to provide for easy access to higher education for Nigerians through an interest-free loan from the Nigerian Education Bank established in this Act to provide education for Nigerians and other purposes connected thereto.’