(NELFUND. Photo Credit: Guardian Nigeria News)
The University of Calabar has disbursed Nigerian Education Loan Fund refunds to 1,089 students across nine batches, while 2,090 additional applications are awaiting payment through its new automated portal.
UNICAL’s NELFUND Desk Officer, Dr Elizabeth Effiwatt, disclosed this to journalists on Friday in Calabar, adding that the institution remains committed to ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of NELFUND disbursements.
She said the University of Calabar has completed nine batches of manual refunds to 1,089 students, stressing that it is wrong for anyone to claim UNICAL has not refunded students, insisting that the refunds are ongoing.
Effiwatt highlighted the major refunds made by the institution and dismissed allegations linking the University of Calabar with institutions that have failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid under the Federal Government’s student loan scheme, stressing that UNICAL has disbursed refunds to beneficiaries.
She gave a breakdown of the nine batches of refunds, explaining that the first batch covered 198 students, the second 104 students, the third 106 students, and the fourth 105 students, followed by a combined balance from batches one and two covering a glitch affecting 168 students.
She added that batch five covered 26 students, batch six 141 students, batch seven 99 students, batch eight 62 students, and batch nine 80 students.
Effiwatt, however, commended President Bola Tinubu and the Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, for the initiative in supporting tertiary institutions across the country.
The Director of ICT at the institution, Dr Eyo Essien, explained that the NELFUND policy provides for refunds to students who paid school fees before disbursement was made, stressing that UNICAL had launched an ICT platform aimed at upgrading its payment system to allow students to apply for tuition payments and refunds electronically.
He said the surge in applications was due to UNICAL’s new digital refund system, which has replaced the old manual process, adding that 2,090 students had applied for refunds through the new automated portal in less than a month. He noted, however, that processing had been temporarily paused to reconcile records.
He explained that the shift from manual to digital processing made it easier for students to apply for refunds through the portal without stress, adding that payment for the next phase was paused for record reconciliation, and assured that students would soon receive their refunds.
Essien explained that students no longer need to visit any office or pay anyone to process refunds, describing the innovation as making UNICAL one of the first institutions in the country to deploy such a system.
He said students do not need to go anywhere or pay money to anyone, as they can simply use their phones to apply for a refund and even check their balance on the dashboard.
He added that he was not aware of any other school or institution in Nigeria that has achieved what UNICAL has done, describing the innovation as seamless and stress-free, allowing students to use it either to pay fees or seek a refund.
