The Senate on Wednesday, March 20, passed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024. The resolution o
The Senate on Wednesday, March 20, passed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024.
The resolution of the upper legislative chamber followed its consideration of the report of its Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND that considered the Bill.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Muntari Dandutse presented the report during plenary.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu transmitted the Bill to the National Assembly last week for its consideration and passage.
The Senate had given the Bill accelerated hearing by suspending relevant sections of its standing rules and referred the Bill to the Committee of the Whole for consideration.
After debate on the Bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the Bill to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND for further legislative work and to report back in one week.
The Bill seeks to provide easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund established in the Act to provide education for all Nigerians.
The Federal Government had earlier postponed the launch of the Students Loan Scheme.
An Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyer, said the loan which was formally slated to take off on Thursday, March 14, was postponed due to some corrections that are being made around the launch.
