The Federal Government on Monday said the Education Tax under the Federal Inland Revenue Service would serve as one of the funding sources for the recently established Student Loan Scheme.
This was as it detailed the conditions that an applicant must meet to qualify for the loan.
It said the scheme would be fully automated to ensure zero human involvement in the application and processing of the loans to applicants.
“That is why the education tax fund is one of the sources of funding that we will use to execute this programme,” said FIRS Chairman, Dr Zacch Adedeji, when he addressed State House Correspondents after briefing President Bola Tinubu on the impending launch of the scheme at the Aso Rock Villa on Monday.
Adedeji, who spoke alongside the Executive Secretary of the Student Loan Board, Dr Akintunde Sawyerr, said channeling the education tax into the scheme was the administration’s way of being accountable to Nigerian taxpayers.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Scheme, Sawyerr, who gave his first public briefing on the programme said eligible applicants would route their requests through the loan app or website, affirming that the scheme would be devoid of human involvement.
He itemised the application process, saying prospective candidates must avail their JAMB registration number, date of birth, National Identification Number and Biometric Verification Number, among others.