Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu on Monday assured Students across the South East geopolitical zone will soon be included in the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
It will be recalled that the South East Caucus in the National Assembly has protested the exclusion of the region after the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) released the list of the institutions that will benefit from the loan nationwide.
In a statement on Monday, the Deputy Speaker said that his office has engaged the authorities in charge of the students loans, expressing optimism that in the coming days, the matter would be resolved.
The deputy speaker has already engaged the directors in NELFUN with regards to the issue.
During the engagement, issues of poor registration of students from the southeast against the total number of students in the schools in the region were identified as the reason for non shortlisting of names.
Similarly, there were mistakes with the completion of the relevant forms such as non-inclusion of Joint Administration and Matriculation Board (JAMB) results.
Hon. Kalu however said that steps have been taken by the affected institutions within the south east to remedy the situation.
He added that the governors of the region are also on top of the situation to increase the number of participating students just as the members of the national assembly have been equally been encouraged to reach out to their constituents for immediate compliance.
The Deputy Speaker also said that his office has devised some means to increase awareness.
According to relevant statistics, Abia State has 3 Institutions: Abia State Polytechnic, Aba; Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and Abia State University, Uturu.
Abia State Polytechnic, Aba has 2,543 students but with no JAMB numbers and therefore, could not get application forms.
Credit: Nigerian Tribune