President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has criticised former Kogi West senator Dino Melaye over his comments about the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, questioning how the opposition politician arrived at the suggestion that beneficiaries receive only ₦20,000 for their education.
The exchange emerged after Melaye, an African Democratic Congress chieftain, criticised NELFUND in a video circulating online and described the Federal Government’s student loan programme as a “haven of corruption.” He questioned how ₦20,000 could pay annual school fees at a Nigerian public tertiary institution.
Melaye said students were being given ₦20,000 and asked why President Bola Tinubu’s administration described the programme as paying students’ school fees when, in his view, such an amount could not cover tuition.
“Which government school takes ₦20,000 as annual school fees?” Melaye asked in the video. His remarks prompted responses from presidential aides and student representatives who accused him of confusing two separate components of the NELFUND programme.
Onanuga joined the criticism on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, while reacting to a response from the National Association of Nigerian Students. He described Melaye’s statement as a “brazen lie” that NELFUND gives students only ₦20,000 per year.
“You wonder what this former Senator and Atiku campaigner had smoked before going on TV,” Onanuga wrote in his response. The language represented Onanuga’s personal criticism of Melaye and not an official finding concerning the former senator.
The disagreement centres on how the NELFUND student loan is structured.
Official information published by NELFUND shows that the programme separates institutional charges from students’ upkeep. After an application is successfully verified, approved institutional charges are paid directly to the beneficiary’s tertiary institution rather than handed to the student.
The upkeep component is different. Eligible beneficiaries who apply for it receive ₦20,000 monthly in their personal bank accounts during the applicable academic session.
NELFUND has previously confirmed that the approved upkeep amount remains ₦20,000 per month. The agency clarified the figure earlier in 2026 after reports circulated suggesting that the allowance had been increased to ₦25,000.
The Fund said those reports were incorrect and maintained that ₦20,000 remained the approved monthly upkeep allowance.
This distinction makes the wording of the political disagreement important.
Melaye’s criticism questioned how ₦20,000 could constitute annual school fees. But under NELFUND’s published system, the ₦20,000 payment is not presented as annual tuition or institutional fees. It is a monthly upkeep loan designed to assist beneficiaries with living expenses.
Institutional charges constitute a separate part of the loan and are paid to the institution after verification.
NELFUND's official website explains that successful applicants can receive support covering institutional charges and upkeep. It states that payments for institutional charges are made to the institution, while approved upkeep funds are transferred to the bank account provided by the student.
Students are also not necessarily required to take both components. NELFUND has explained that a beneficiary may apply for institutional charges without taking the monthly upkeep loan.
The structure means a student's total NELFUND support cannot accurately be calculated simply by looking at the ₦20,000 monthly payment. The institutional component varies according to charges verified for the beneficiary at the relevant institution.
Melaye's broader allegation that NELFUND is a “haven of corruption” is a separate claim. The remarks reviewed did not provide evidence establishing corruption within the Fund, and the allegation should therefore be treated as Melaye's political accusation rather than a proven fact.
The dispute also drew a response from another presidential aide, Olusegun Dada, Special Adviser to the President on Social Media, who accused Melaye of confusing the upkeep allowance with the institutional charges paid for beneficiaries.
Dada described Melaye's comments as “peak ignorance,” arguing that the former senator had equated the ₦20,000 monthly allowance with the main fees payable each academic session.
The National Association of Nigerian Students also strongly criticised Melaye. Its response went beyond explaining the programme and attacked his record on education while he served in the Senate.
The political language surrounding the disagreement should, however, be separated from the verifiable operation of the programme.
What can be established from NELFUND's own published information is that the Fund provides two distinct forms of financial support: institutional charges and an optional upkeep loan. The ₦20,000 figure relates to monthly upkeep and does not represent the total amount available to pay a student's institutional charges.
The programme operates as a loan rather than a general scholarship or grant. NELFUND's terms state that beneficiaries are liable for both the institutional charges paid on their behalf and any upkeep loans they receive. Repayment obligations generally begin after the conditions specified under the student loan framework are met.
The Federal Government established the current student loan framework as part of its attempt to expand access to tertiary education following concerns about the ability of students and families to meet education costs.
Since disbursement began, the programme has become a recurring subject of political debate, including questions over funding, implementation, access, repayment and whether the support provided is sufficient for students facing higher living costs.
The adequacy of the ₦20,000 monthly upkeep allowance is therefore a legitimate policy question separate from what the payment represents. Critics may question whether ₦20,000 is enough to meaningfully support students amid current living costs, while the government can separately point to institutional charges paid directly to schools.
That distinction is central to understanding the latest argument.
Melaye can challenge the size or effectiveness of the programme and seek evidence concerning its financial management. But describing the ₦20,000 monthly upkeep payment as though it were the entire amount provided for a beneficiary's annual school fees does not reflect the structure published by NELFUND.
Likewise, Onanuga's provocative question about what Melaye had “smoked” adds political rhetoric to the dispute but does not itself establish whether every aspect of NELFUND's administration is functioning effectively.
For students and parents, the more consequential information is straightforward: ₦20,000 is the approved monthly upkeep loan, while verified institutional charges are handled separately and paid directly to participating institutions.
The latest confrontation therefore illustrates how an argument over government policy can become obscured when different components of a programme are treated as though they are the same.
As Nigeria approaches the 2027 election period, scrutiny of Tinubu administration programmes is expected to intensify. In the case of NELFUND, political claims from both government supporters and opponents can be assessed against the Fund's published rules, disbursement records and other independently verifiable evidence.
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