The National Association of Nigerian Students has called on President Bola Tinubu to investigate and sanction vice chancellors and heads of tertiary institutions allegedly withholding student loan refunds and uploading inflated tuition figures to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund platform.

NANS President, Akinteye Babatunde, raised the alarm in a video message posted on his X handle on Tuesday, 28th July, where he simultaneously commended the Federal Government for the implementation of the student loan programme, describing it as responsive to the needs for which it was created.

"I must say that the loan is living up to the expectations of what it was created for because we have seen students getting the loan directly to their school fees and we have also seen them getting the upkeep," he stated.

Babatunde alleged that several institutions were compelling students to source personal funds to pay tuition before NELFUND disbursements, only to retain the loan proceeds upon receipt without refunding affected students.

"Many institutions force students to look for money to pay before the NELFUND loan is paid, and when the loans are paid, the institutions still hold the money and refuse to refund those students," he said.

He cited a polytechnic in Edo State as a specific example, alleging that the institution uploaded a tuition fee of ₦250,000 to the NELFUND platform while students were only paying ₦124,000. Babatunde said the institution's rector attributed the discrepancy to the government when contacted, a response he described as unacceptable.

He called on Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo to investigate the allegation, warning that students must not be saddled with loan debts they did not incur.

"This money has to be paid back by the students when they start working, so they should not give them debt that is not their own," he said.

The student leader urged the Federal Government to publicly identify and sanction institutions withholding refunds, and appealed to state governors to hold vice chancellors under their appointment accountable.

"Why will a school owe students money for three months, four months and not refund them? It is evil. It is as if they are doing this to frustrate the good intention you have for creating the loan," Babatunde stated.

He reaffirmed NANS' support for the initiative while stressing that the scheme required active protection from institutional abuse.