Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) — Privacy Policy

Effective date: 15 July 2024 · Last updated: 11 May 2026

The Nigeria Education Loan Fund (“NELFUND”, “we”, “us”) is the data controller for the personal data collected through nelf.gov.ng and its connected services (the loan portal at portal.nelf.gov.ng and our support platform). We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data lawfully under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDPA) and the NITDA Guidelines for the Management of Personal Data by Public Institutions. This notice explains what we collect, why, and the rights you have.

1. Information We Collect

Identity and contact data: name, National Identification Number (NIN), email address and phone number, provided when you enquire, open a support ticket or apply for a loan.

Loan and eligibility data: institution, matriculation/admission details, course, bank/payment details and supporting documents you submit when applying.

Technical and usage data: IP address, approximate location, device and browser type, and pages visited, collected automatically through cookies and analytics tools when you use the website.

2. Why We Use Your Data and Our Lawful Basis

We process your data to respond to enquiries and complaints; to assess, disburse, manage and recover student loans; to verify identity (including NIN validation); to operate, secure and improve the website; and to meet legal and regulatory obligations.

Lawful bases (NDPA s.25): your consent; performance of a task carried out in the public interest and in line with NELFUND’s statutory mandate; the performance of a contract (your loan); and compliance with a legal obligation. We collect only the data we need for each purpose (data minimisation), and ask for your NIN only where identity verification is genuinely required.

3. Sharing and Third Parties

We do not sell your data. We share it only where necessary with: our support-ticketing service provider, which processes enquiries on our behalf under a written data processing agreement; banks and payment processors for disbursement and repayment; tertiary institutions to confirm eligibility; identity-verification authorities (e.g. NIMC); and government bodies, auditors or law-enforcement where required by law. Where any provider stores data outside Nigeria, we ensure an adequate level of protection as required by NDPA Part VIII before transfer.

4. Data Retention and Security

We keep your data only for as long as needed for the purposes above and for periods required by law, after which it is securely deleted or anonymised. We apply appropriate technical and organisational safeguards, including encryption, access controls and secure hosting to protect against loss, misuse or unauthorised access. In the event of a data breach affecting your rights, we will notify the Nigeria Data Protection Commission within 72 hours and inform you where required.

5. Your Rights

Under the NDPA you have the right to: access your data; correct inaccurate data; request erasure; restrict or object to processing; withdraw consent at any time (without affecting prior lawful processing); request portability of your data; and not be subject to solely automated decisions that significantly affect you. To exercise any right, contact our Data Protection Officer below. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) at ndpc.gov.ng.

6. Cookies

We use essential cookies to make the site work and, with your consent, analytics cookies to understand how the site is used. You can accept or reject non-essential cookies through our cookie banner and manage them in your browser settings at any time.

7. Contact / Data Protection Officer

Data Protection Officer, NELFUND — Email: dpo@nelf.gov.ng. We may update this policy from time to time; the current version will always be published on this website with its effective date.