The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has released ₦8.205 billion to students enrolled in eight tertiary institutions in Kogi State, covering institutional fees and upkeep support under the Federal Government's student loan programme.
Data obtained by The Guardian show that the intervention recorded 35,710 applications for institutional fees and 34,154 applications for upkeep. Of the total amount disbursed, ₦4.124 billion was directed to institutional fees, while ₦4.082 billion went towards students' upkeep.
Federal University Lokoja received the single largest allocation of ₦3.577 billion. The institution accounted for 15,408 institutional-fee applications valued at ₦1.767 billion and 14,655 upkeep applications totalling ₦1.810 billion.
Prince Abubakar Audu University followed with ₦1.956 billion, comprising ₦904.207 million for institutional fees and ₦1.052 billion for upkeep. The university recorded 8,992 institutional-fee applications and 8,614 upkeep applications.
Kogi State University, Kabba, received ₦1.229 billion, made up of ₦654.877 million for institutional fees and ₦573.760 million for upkeep. Confluence University of Science and Technology received ₦805.238 million, while Federal Polytechnic, Idah, received ₦609.655 million.
Other beneficiary institutions were Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, which received ₦10.354 million; Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, with ₦9.378 million; and Federal College of Education, Okene, which received ₦8.867 million.
Under the student loan scheme, approved institutional charges are paid directly to participating institutions, while upkeep support is credited to beneficiaries' bank accounts.
The figures indicate that the bulk of the funding in Kogi State went to university students, with Federal University Lokoja alone accounting for about 44% of the ₦8.205 billion total disbursement.
