Under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a student loan initiative, called the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), was formed to support students in public tertiary institutions. The loan is interest-free and has no collateral. It also includes monthly upkeep stipends to make higher education more accessible.
Many students have benefitted from this loan, including myself. According to Nelfund on their official X account, where daily disbursement is announced for transparency, one million applications have been recorded so far. The initiative was established in 2024.
NELFUND Records One Million Applications — A Landmark Milestone in Student Loan Access#NelfundStudentLoan pic.twitter.com/Uzx1KRgjvt
— NELFUND (@NELFUND) November 2, 2025
However, despite the fact that many Nigerian students are benefiting from the student loan, some are still finding it difficult to get the loan support due to many reasons, including the school not updating students' records on time, incomplete or outdated documents, not having a standard bank account, not applying before the due date, and incomplete applications.
Some students who even have the privilege of applying are now considering cancellation. They want to cancel the student because, perhaps, they've gotten education support from relatives. Some don't even need a school fee loan; they only need the monthly stipend, but the stipend for upkeep cannot be disbursed without applying for the school fee. Meanwhile, you can apply for the school fee only without including the stipend.
In a nutshell, as there are many reasons students are unable to get education support from Nelfund, there are also many reasons why some students are seeking help for cancellations. This is why I decided to create this tutorial, to guide students who are willing to cancel their student loan application before the final disbursement.
Cancelling your NELFUND student loan
Follow these steps to successfully cancel your NELFUND student loan on the application portal:
- Log into your NELFUND portal at "portal.nelf.gov.ng" using your email address and unique password.
- If you forget your password, you can reset it using your NIN or email address.
- Once you're signed in, navigate to Loans to see if it's not been disbursed.
- If the loans have been disbursed, cancellation will not be possible. But if it's still showing pending, then you can quickly proceed to cancel the loan application.
- Now, navigate back to "Homepage" and scroll down to the "Help and Support" section.
- Tap "Get in touch", and you'll be redirected to the support portal at "nelfund.esupport.ng", where you can submit support requests/tickets.
- Tap "Raise Ticket" and fill out the form that pops up.
- Enter your NIN, full name, email address, and phone number. Make sure that the information you provide here tallies with the ones you use to register for your NELFUND profile.
- Next, select the "Loan Cancellation" category and select "Cancellation" as the subcategory.
- In the "Message" box, write genius reasons why you want your loan application to be cancelled. You can use the example written below. But make sure you modify it.
- Tap "Send" to submit your ticket and expect a reply within 48 hours.
Note: Many students are complaining that they're not getting any responses from Nelfund after contacting them. The reason is that Nelfund don't usually respond via email; they respond in the ticket system/portal where you raise the ticket in the first place.
So, to see their responses, you'll need to log into the support ticketing system and tap "View Ticket" as it's shown in the image above. You'll need to log in using your email address and registered phone number to see your tickets. That is the only way you can see Nelfund responses.
This is one of the responses I got from NELFUND when I complained about my school fee not being disbursed despite the fact that it has been verified on the portal.
Message of Cancellation to Nelfund
Subject: Request for Cancellation of My NELFUND Loan Application Before Disbursement
Message:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I hope this message finds you well.
I am writing to respectfully request the cancellation of my application under the NELFUND Student Loan Program before any disbursement is made. After careful consideration, I have decided to withdraw my application due to a change in my financial circumstances and the availability of alternative means to support my education.
I sincerely appreciate the opportunity provided by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to support students across the country. Kindly confirm the cancellation of my application at your earliest convenience.
Thank you for your understanding.
Yours faithfully,
Your Full Name
