President Bola Tinubu has signed the Student Loan Bill, which will enable Nigerian students access loans at interest-free rates into law.
An aide to the president, Dele Alake, disclosed this to State House Correspondents on Monday evening.
OYO NEWS reports that the Students Loan Bill recommended two years imprisonment or N500,000 or both for students who default in repayment or anyone found aiding defaulters.
The piece of legislation passed second reading at the House of Representatives on May 25, 2023.
The bill is part of efforts geared towards addressing funding challenges in the country’s tertiary institutions of learning, the National Assembly recently passed the Student Loan Bill, which has faced much criticism, into law.
The Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, cautioned against the condemnation of the Student Loan Bank being proposed through the Student Loan Bill.
The bill, which was sponsored by Gbajabiamila, was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to provide for easy access to higher education for Nigerians through an interest-free loan from the Nigerian Education Bank established in this Act to provide education for Nigerians and other purposes connected thereto.’
The bill, which was sponsored by Gbajabiamila, was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to provide for easy access to higher education for Nigerians through an interest-free loan from the Nigerian Education Bank established in this Act to provide education for Nigerians and other purposes connected thereto.’