Details have emerged about the meeting held on Tuesday between President Bola Tinubu, Chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) Board and Zenith Bank founder, Jim Ovia, and the Fund’s Managing Director/Chief Executive, Akintunde Sawyerr.

It was gathered that the meeting, held behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, provided an opportunity for the NELFUND leadership to brief the President on the progress of the student loan scheme since its launch over two years ago.

According to sources at the Presidential Villa, the two NELFUND chiefs briefed the President on the programme’s progress, including the number of beneficiaries reached, implementation challenges, emerging opportunities for expansion, and strategies needed to ensure the student loan scheme remains sustainable in the long term.

A major focus of the discussion, it was gathered, was ensuring that the initiative becomes a lasting national intervention that outlives the present administration, rather than ending abruptly with a change in government in 2031.

“The President expressed his desire to ensure that this life-changing programme is here to stay, And they talked about leveraging the private sector to support the initiative.

“He expressed confidence in the leadership of the Chairman of NELFUND Board, Jim Ovia and the Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr.

“That he has the full support of the government and the government is solidly behind the leadership. And that NELFUND is in the best interest of the students and in the best interest of Nigeria”, a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Another source also revealed that the meeting also explored strategies for institutionalising the scheme to secure its continuity for future generations of Nigerian students.

The Guardian recalls that NELFUND was established in 2024 after President Tinubu signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act into law. The legislation created the legal framework for the provision of interest-free loans to eligible students in public tertiary institutions across Nigeria, covering tuition and other institutional charges, as well as monthly upkeep allowances.

Checks on the Fund’s dashboard showed that as of July 4, 2026, it had disbursed more than N303 billion to 1,635,676 students across 315 beneficiary institutions.