By Peter Adelowo
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to roll out of multi-purpose Government-to-People, G2P cards to students for enhanced access to loan and administration.
At the signing in Abuja, the Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr said the agreement would drive financial inclusion, promote transparency and accountability through the deployment of the Card.
He expressed the commitment of NELFUND management to the project, adding that the MoU would open a new vitsa for Nigerian students to access loans seamlessly using multiple wallets as facilitated by the biometric-enabled card from NIMC.
Sawyerr highlighted immense support of NIMC to the success being recorded in the administration and disbursement of loans to students by providing essential identity verification services.
“I’m impressed with the work NIMC is doing, without NIMC, NELFUND literally cannot function,” he said.
The Director-General of NIMC, Mr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote explained that the biometric-enabled cards are part of products from the Commission to ensure every beneficiary of government services such as loans had verifiable identity.
She added that the biometric-enabled cards have multiple wallets for students and could be used online and offline to access loans and other services.
Speaking further, the NIMC boss said the cards would also make it possible to track loans disbursement and ensure they were used for the purposes intended, noting that it would promote transparency, accountability and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.
