Tinubu Meets NELFUND Leaders to Discuss Student Loans

On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu held a closed-door meeting at Aso Rock with Jim Ovia, founder of Zenith Bank, and Akintunde Sawyerr, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). The meeting's purpose was not disclosed.

Ovia and Sawyerr arrived at the Presidential Villa at approximately 5:15 p.m. Tinubu appointed Ovia as Chairman of the NELFUND Board on April 26, 2024, shortly after signing the Access to Higher Education Act into law, which established Nigeria's interest-free student loan scheme.

Sawyerr, appointed on April 5, 2024, has overseen the fund's implementation. As of July 4, 2026, NELFUND reported total loan disbursements exceeding ₦303.9 billion to 1,635,676 beneficiaries from 1,800,489 applications.

On July 9, an additional ₦1.5 billion was released to 6,129 students for the 2025/2026 academic session. Ovia praised the initiative as transformative and emphasized its importance in enabling access to higher education.