President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the 2023 Student Loan Act into law.
Tinubu assented to the bill on Monday at the Presidential Villa, according to Dele Alake, a senior aide to the President, who disclosed this to State House correspondents.
The bill, sponsored by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila passed second reading at the House of Representatives on May 25th.
It 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.’
The bill will enable students access interest-free loans as part of measures to boost educational access and delivery at the tertiary level.
However it prescribes a two year imprisonment or N500,000 fine or both for students who default in repayment or those aiding them.
“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,” Alake said.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Andrew Adejo 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.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
