Atiku to review NELFUND policy, consider student debt forgiveness if elected

By Chris Steven

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) says he will review the student loan policy and consider forgiving qualifying student debts if elected president.

Phrank Shaibu, senior special assistant on public communication to Atiku, announced Atiku’s policy in a statement on Tuesday while responding to President Bola Tinubu’s recent comments on the opposition leader’s economic proposals.

Shaibu said Atiku believes education should not leave young Nigerians burdened by debt and would seek to reduce the underlying cost of education.

“The good news for Nigerian students is that Atiku has reviewed the current student-loan policy and believes education should not begin with a mountain of debt hanging on a young Nigerian’s future,” the statement reads.

“His approach will reduce the underlying cost of education and, after review, provide forgiveness for qualifying student debts so that young Nigerians can graduate with hope rather than repayment burdens.”

Shaibu said Atiku’s proposed review was based on the argument that student loans should not be presented as evidence that education had become affordable.

“A student loan is not a scholarship. It is a liability,” he said.

“The proper test of an education policy is whether ordinary families can educate their children without being pushed into debt merely to keep them in school.”

The former vice-president’s camp also criticised the Tinubu administration’s reliance on student loans as a response to rising education costs.

Shaibu accused the government of increasing the financial burden on students and subsequently presenting the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as a solution.

“Celebrating NELFUND as proof that education has become affordable under your government is like setting school fees on fire and then boasting that you lent students a bucket of water,” he said.

He said Atiku’s proposed economic policies would instead focus on reducing the cost of living, including transportation and energy costs, so that families would have more disposable income for education and other basic needs.

Shaibu also rejected Tinubu’s suggestion that Atiku’s proposal to provide targeted support for domestic refining could affect funding for NELFUND, workers’ salaries or the minimum wage.

“If your government has the arithmetic, Bola, publish it,” he said. “Show Nigerians, line by line, how a transparently budgeted subsidy tied to Nigerian crude and domestic refining suddenly empties NELFUND or workers’ pay packets.”

NELFUND was established by the federal government to provide student loans to eligible Nigerians in tertiary institutions.

Atiku’s camp said the former vice-president would continue to engage Nigerians on policies aimed at making education and other basic necessities more affordable.