The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement, Mr Fredrick Nwabufo, has described the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as a transformative initiative of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking on the administration’s achievements, Nwabufo said NELFUND represented a significant intervention in expanding access to tertiary education in Nigeria.
“NELFUND is a historical novelty,” he said.
His comments come as the Tinubu administration approaches its third anniversary, with economic policies and social intervention programmes forming part of discussions on its performance.
He said; “It is a programme that the young beneficiaries of today will talk about and pass down to their children.”
The zero-interest facility has disbursed funding to nearly two million students in tertiary institutions, with repayment due two years after the completion of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Nwabufo noted that the fund is open to all Nigerian students regardless of political affiliation, and should not be “fodder for populist politics.”
Nwabufo pointed to official data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which shows Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, up from 4.23 per cent in the same period of 2025.
The growth was driven by improvements in oil, manufacturing, agriculture, and services.
“We now have a sufficient recovery and are already on a stronger growth trajectory,” Nwabufo said, stressing that foreign reserves have risen to over $53 billion — the highest level in nearly two decades.
Nwabufo also outlined expanded social safety nets, including CREDICORP, which supports workers in purchasing essential goods and assets, as well as direct financial grants to low-income households and small businesses.
He said; “Today, states can pay workers’ salaries, a departure from the past when 27 states could not meet this obligation.
“The administration has kept faith with the core pillars of its original manifesto” and “translated policy blueprints into tangible infrastructure and structural reforms.”
