• Bill scales second reading in senate
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu, has written to the Senate and House of Representatives seeking for the repeal and reenactment of the Students’ Loan Act.
The president, specifically asked the Senate to accord his request expeditious consideration.
Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, read the senate’s version during plenary in the red chamber, while the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, who read the letter in the House, said the repeal and reenactment of the Act was imperative to address some challenges observed in the Act, so as to enhance the implementation of the loan scheme.
The letter read: “The Students’ Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re- Enactment) Bill, 2024, seeks to enhance the implementation of the Higher Education Students’ Loan Scheme by addressing challenges related to the management structure of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF), applicant’s eligibility requirements, loan purpose, funding sources, disbursement and repayment procedures.
“While hoping that this submission will receive the usual expeditious consideration of the House of Representatives, please accept, Rt. Honourable Speaker, the assurances of my highest consideration.”
President Tinubu had, in June 2023, signed the Students’ Loan Act, which was sponsored by former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and passed by the Ninth House. But, the Students’ Loan Scheme is yet to take off, as the government keeps changing dates for its commencement.
Under the current act, the child of a person who earns N45,000 a month is disqualified from applying for the loan. Applicants for the loan are expected to provide two guarantors, who shall be civil servants of level 12 and above, lawyers with 10 years post-call experience, judicial officers, or justice of peace.
Also, the Act “disqualifies the children of parents who have defaulted on any loans previously from applying for the students’ loans.” However, a policy brief provided by the President indicates that the new bill “removes the family income threshold so that Nigerian students can apply for the loans and accept responsibility for repayment according to the fund’s guidelines.”
It also “removes the guarantor requirement so that students can apply for, and receive loans subject to application and identity verification guidelines as provided by the fund, while applicants to the fund may apply for loans to cover tuition and other fees payable to the school and maintenance allowance payable to the student.”
According to the policy brief, the repayment of the loans “by beneficiaries of the fund shall begin as soon as the beneficiary becomes employed in any capacity. The fund shall not initiate loan recovery efforts until two years after the completion of the National Youth Service programme.
“A beneficiary may request an extension of enforcement action by the fund by providing a sworn affidavit indicating that he is not employed in any capacity and is not receiving any income.”
However, while the new bill provided for “loan forgiveness in the event of death or acts of God causing inability to repay, it states that only a 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.”
Both chambers passed the bill for the repeal and re-enactment of the Students’ Loan Act, for the second reading, after debating the general principles.
The bill, after it passed the second reading at the Senate, was referred to Committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for further legislative inputs and report back to plenary on the next legislative date.