Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has promised to review the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, and introduce debt forgiveness for qualifying beneficiaries if elected president in 2027.
Atiku’s position was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, in response to a recent statement by President Bola Tinubu on the country’s economy and education financing.
Shaibu said Atiku believed Nigerian students should not be forced to begin their working lives burdened by education loans.
According to him, the former vice president would seek to reduce the underlying cost of education before reviewing the existing student-loan framework and providing debt forgiveness for students who meet the required conditions.
“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. Education should open doors, not mortgage the future,” Shaibu said.
Shaibu also criticised the Tinubu administration for presenting NELFUND as evidence that education had become more affordable.
He argued that the government had allowed education costs to rise in some institutions before offering loans to students struggling to meet the increased fees.
“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 questioned the rationale behind increasing education costs and subsequently offering loans as a solution, describing the approach as “witchcraft economics.”
“You make education more expensive, lend students money to survive the increase, and then demand applause for the rescue. That is not affordability. It is witchcraft economics: create the burden with one hand, offer debt with the other, and demand applause for the intervention,” Shaibu added.
He maintained that student loans should not be treated as scholarships or proof that education was affordable, arguing that the real measure of an effective education policy was whether families could keep their children in school without taking on debt.
Shaibu further rejected claims that Atiku’s proposal to reduce energy costs would negatively affect NELFUND, workers’ salaries or the minimum wage.
“If your government has the arithmetic, Bola, publish it. Show Nigerians, line by line, how a transparently budgeted subsidy tied to Nigerian crude and domestic refining suddenly empties NELFUND or workers’ pay packets,” he said.
He said Atiku’s proposed approach would instead focus on reducing energy and transportation costs, which he argued would give workers more purchasing power and ease the financial pressure on students and their families.
“Reduce the cost of energy so that salaries buy more. Reduce transport costs so that less of a worker’s wage disappears merely getting to work,” Shaibu said.
He added that Atiku’s position was that education should not leave young Nigerians starting their careers with significant repayment obligations.