President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with Jim Ovia, founder of Zenith Bank and Chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), alongside the agency’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, at the State House in Abuja.
The two officials reportedly arrived at the Presidential Villa at about 5:15 p.m., although details of the meeting were not immediately disclosed.
The meeting comes less than 48 hours after Ovia publicly praised the Federal Government’s student loan initiative, describing NELFUND as a transformative programme that has expanded access to higher education for thousands of Nigerian students.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, Ovia said the education loan scheme introduced by President Tinubu has enabled many young Nigerians to pursue university education who otherwise might not have had the opportunity.
“Yes, NELFUND definitely is addressing access to education, and we are glad that Bola Tinubu has introduced that by setting up NELFUND. It’s a very encouraging initiative,” Ovia said.
He added that the programme has continued to record significant success since its introduction, with many universities already benefiting from the scheme.
“I’ve been the chairperson of that for the past five years, and it’s very successful today. So many universities have already been benefiting from that,” he stated.
NELFUND was established in 2024 after President Tinubu signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act into law, creating a framework for eligible students in tertiary institutions to access interest-free education loans.
According to the agency, as of July 4, 2026, it had disbursed more than ₦303 billion in student loans to 1,635,676 beneficiaries out of 1,800,489 applications received nationwide.
Although the agenda of Tuesday’s meeting has not been made public, it comes at a time when the student loan programme continues to expand across the country, with the Federal Government maintaining its commitment to improving access to tertiary education.
