The President of Nigeria has signed into law the 2023 Student Loan Act.
The bill was enacted by the 9th National Assembly, but Tinubu signed it on Monday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, as part of efforts to improve access to and delivery of tertiary education.
Andrew Adejo, the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, and Dele Alake, a senior presidential aide, both explained that the act will ensure that poor students have access to education financing.
According to Alake, Tinubu’s electioneering promises included the loan initiative.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has just signed the Student Loan Act into law today.” This is simply the fulfillment of a promise he made during the election campaign, when he promised that students would have access to education financing, he said.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education noted that the Federal Scholarship Board, which already exists, was underfunded and required an enabling act to function properly. However, now that an enabling act is in place, access to education loans will be much simpler.