The University of Calabar has disbursed Nigerian Education Loan Fund refunds to 1,089 students across nine batches, while 2,090 additional applications await payment through its new automated portal.

UNICAL's NELFUND Desk Officer, Dr Elizabeth Effiwatt, disclosed this to journalists in Calabar, stressing that the Institution was committed to transparency and accountability in the management of NELFUND disbursements.

She stated, "The University of Calabar has completed nine batches of manual refunds to 1,089 students. It is wrong for anyone to say UNICAL has not refunded. We are refunding, and the process is ongoing."

Effiwatt debunked allegations linking the University of Calabar with institutions that have failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid under the Federal Government's student loan scheme, insisting that UNICAL has disbursed refunds to beneficiaries.

Breaking down the figures, she explained, "Let me also take us through the number of refunds the University of Calabar has made. We have done 9 batches of refunds. Batch 1 was for 198 students. The second batch was for 104 students. We did the third batch for 106 students. Fourth refund for 105 students and then balance of 1 and 2 glitch for 168 students, batch Five was for 26 Students and batch six was 141 students, batch 7 for 99 students, batch 8 for 62 students, and then we did batch 9, which was for 80 students."

She commended President Bola Tinubu and the Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, for the initiative in supporting tertiary institutions nationwide.

The Director of ICT at the institution, Dr Eyo Essien, noted that NELFUND policy provides for refunds to students who paid school fees before disbursement was made, adding that UNICAL had launched an ICT platform to upgrade its payment system and allow electronic applications.

He explained that the surge in applications stemmed from the new digital refund system, which has replaced the manual process, revealing that 2,090 students had applied through the automated portal in less than a month, though processing was temporarily paused to reconcile records.

"We have about 2,090 students who have applied for a refund in less than a month. It is because of this automation. Payment for the next phase was paused to reconcile records. Very soon, they will smile," he said.

Essien noted that students no longer need to visit any office or pay anyone to process refunds, describing UNICAL as one of the first institutions in the country to deploy such a system, where students can check their balance directly on the dashboard.