Why NELFUND Upkeep Payments Are Delayed Beyond the Portal Date

Several Nigerian students have table concerns over the late disbursement of their upkeep allocation under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). A recurring nagging is that the money does not hit their bank accounts on the exact dates displayed on the NELFUND student portal.

While frustration is understandable, the reason behind this delay is largely procedural.

Scheduled Date vs. Actual Payment Date

The NELFUND portal funds are released from the agency. However, this does not always translate into immediate credit alerts for students.

Once NELFUND states payment, the funds go through many steps:

1. Institutional Reconciliation: Schools are required to verify and reconcile student details (matric number, account information, and eligibility status). Errors or mismatches can delay forwarding to banks.
2. Batch Disbursement System: Payments are released in batches, not all at once. Some students may receive alerts earlier, while others in the same school or different institutions may wait longer.
3. Bank Processing Time: Even after the funds reach commercial banks, processing, internal clearance, and inter-bank transfers can add a few days to the timeline.

The Upkeep Agreement

According to NELFUND’s revealed terms, suitable students are entitled to get up to ₦20,000 per month for each semester as upkeep. However, several students on social media have lambasted the agency for not sticking strictly to this agreement.

Some assert that they are owed up to two months’ allowance, while some suppose that their colleagues in different institutions are receiving double payments within the same month. These disparities, students argue, reflect a lack of fairness and proper coordination in the payment structure.

What NELFUND Says

The agency has reiterated in several updates that it is committed to timely and transparent expenditure. NELFUND also issues daily loan disbursement reports, indicating the amounts issued to institutions. However, the gap between official reports and actual alerts on students’ phones continues to fuel frustration.

Officials narrate that once funds leave NELFUND’s accounts, delays are mostly due to schools and banks, not the agency itself. Students are therefore advised to always confirm with their institution’s bursary or student affairs unit before raising an alarm on missed payments.

Nigeria’s student loan scheme, launched to reduce the financial burden on undergraduates, is still in its early phase. Experts note that teething challenges such as inconsistent payment timelines, reconciliation delays, and lack of unified communication are to be expected.

However, student unions and activists insist that predictability is key. For many undergraduates, upkeep is their only source of feeding and transportation money. When it doesn’t arrive on time, survival becomes a daily struggle.

What Students Can Do

• Ensure their bank account details are correctly updated with the institution.
• Regularly check both the NELFUND portal and official communication from their school.
• Be patient within the disbursement window, but escalate complaints through official NELFUND or student union channels if the delay becomes excessive.

 This article explains why payments don’t drop on the exact portal date, ties it into the agreement issues (₦20k monthly), and addresses the social media outcry over some students receiving multiple payments while others wait months.