TRENDING... Kogi NELFUND Figures Counters Dino Melaye’s ₦20,000 Claim

The latest NELFUND disbursement figures from Kogi State have brought a new dimension to the controversy surrounding former Senator Dino Melaye’s recent comments on the Federal Government’s student loan programme, with the data showing that the intervention goes far beyond the ₦20,000 monthly upkeep allowance he highlighted in his criticism.

Melaye, a former member of the House of Representatives and former Senator representing Kogi West, recently criticised NELFUND, focusing particularly on the ₦20,000 monthly upkeep payment to beneficiaries. He questioned how ₦20,000 could cover students’ annual school fees and challenged the description of the programme as a student-fee intervention. But the Kogi figures present a substantially broader picture and show why the former lawmaker should have considered the complete structure of the scheme before drawing conclusions.

Across eight tertiary institutions listed in the Kogi State disbursement data, NELFUND has disbursed a combined ₦8.205 billion, comprising ₦4.124 billion for institutional fees and another ₦4.082 billion in upkeep payments. The figures cover 35,710 institutional-fee applications and 34,154 upkeep applications, demonstrating that the intervention is not limited to the ₦20,000 monthly allowance that has featured prominently in Melaye’s criticism.

The figures from individual institutions further illustrate the scale of the intervention. At the Confluence University of Science and Technology, NELFUND disbursed ₦531.138 million for institutional fees covering 2,779 applications and ₦274.1 million in upkeep covering 2,681 applications, bringing the combined figure to ₦805.238 million. At the Federal Polytechnic, Idah, the data shows ₦252.895 million in institutional-fee disbursements for 4,127 applications and ₦356.76 million in upkeep payments for 3,997 applications, giving a combined ₦609.655 million.

At the Federal University, Lokoja, NELFUND disbursed ₦1.767 billion for institutional fees covering 15,408 applications, while ₦1.810 billion went toward upkeep for 14,655 applications, bringing the combined figure to approximately ₦3.577 billion. At Kogi State University, Kabba, institutional-fee disbursements amounted to ₦654.877 million for 4,198 applications, while upkeep payments reached ₦573.76 million for 4,006 applications, producing a combined figure of approximately ₦1.229 billion.

Similarly, Prince Abubakar Audu University recorded ₦904.207 million in institutional-fee disbursements covering 8,992 applications and ₦1.052 billion in upkeep payments covering 8,614 applications, bringing its total to approximately ₦1.956 billion. The remaining institutions also recorded disbursements, with Federal College of Education, Okene, receiving ₦8.867 million, Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, receiving ₦10.354 million, and Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, recording approximately ₦9.378 million.

Taken together, the figures make one point particularly clear: institutional fees and upkeep are separate components of the NELFUND intervention. The ₦20,000 monthly upkeep payment is not presented as the student's annual institutional fee. Institutional charges are handled separately, while upkeep is paid to eligible student beneficiaries.

This distinction should be particularly relevant to Melaye because his connection to Kogi is not that of a distant political commentator. He previously represented the state in the National Assembly, first as a member of the House of Representatives and later as Senator for Kogi West. As a former federal lawmaker, he should arguably be familiar with the importance of examining the full structure of a public programme before drawing conclusions from one component of it.

Questioning whether ₦20,000 is adequate for students' living expenses is a legitimate subject for public debate. Nigerians can reasonably ask whether the allowance sufficiently meets students' needs. But that is different from presenting the ₦20,000 upkeep payment as though it represents the entirety of NELFUND support. The Kogi figures show that billions of naira have simultaneously been committed to institutional fees.

The issue is particularly significant because the figures are from the very state Melaye once represented at the federal level. Students in institutions such as Federal University, Lokoja; Prince Abubakar Audu University; Kogi State University, Kabba; Federal Polytechnic, Idah; and Confluence University of Science and Technology are among those covered by the reported disbursements. The data therefore provides a concrete basis for assessing the impact of NELFUND in Kogi rather than relying solely on general claims about the programme.

This does not mean criticism of NELFUND should be discouraged. Questions about the adequacy of the upkeep allowance, the speed of disbursement, eligibility, transparency, verification, institutional payments and the overall impact of the scheme remain legitimate areas for public scrutiny. However, such scrutiny is more useful when it begins with the complete structure and documented figures of the programme.

For Melaye, the Kogi figures provide a particularly important reference point. The data shows ₦8.205 billion in total NELFUND disbursements across eight institutions, including ₦4.124 billion for institutional fees and ₦4.082 billion for upkeep. It also records 35,710 institutional-fee applications and 34,154 upkeep applications. Those numbers demonstrate that the NELFUND intervention in Kogi is considerably larger than the ₦20,000 monthly upkeep payment.

As a former lawmaker who represented Kogi at both the federal legislative level and the Senate, Melaye should know that properly assessing a government programme requires looking at all its components. If he wants to interrogate NELFUND, the more comprehensive debate would examine how much has been disbursed for institutional charges, how many students have benefited, whether payments are timely, whether the upkeep allowance is adequate and what improvements are required.

The Kogi figures have therefore added an important dimension to the debate. They show that the NELFUND story in the state is not simply about ₦20,000 per student. It is about ₦8.205 billion in combined disbursements, with billions directed toward institutional fees and billions more toward student upkeep.

The figures speak for themselves, and they make clear that any serious assessment of NELFUND should consider the complete financing structure rather than one component in isolation.