Out of the approved sum of N12.5 billion earmarked for the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), only N3 billion has been disbursed.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations of the Military, Mallam Mohammed Manga, to journalists in Abuja.
“Only N3 billion had been provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) out of the N12.5billion approved for the first tranche of the NYIF. So far, 54.6 % of the N3 billion had been disbursed,” he said.
He shared that the scheme had released loans to the tune of N1.629 billion to 5,200 youths, adding that 25,000 more youths are on queue to receive the financial aid.
According to Manga, the information was shared by NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB), custodian of the loans, to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development – tasked with overseeing the scheme.
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Managa, in the statement, said, “Total eligible applications approved stood at 6,054 out of which 5,200 disbursements were made, leaving the number of those that have been approved but yet to get disbursement, at 854. The number of unqualified applicants for the batch stood at 721.”
On why some applicants failed to access the NYIF loan, Manga said that “some applications were turned down because the applicants did not provide valid or correct contact details for communication on further steps in the loan application; or had existing AGSMEIS or COVID-19 loan while some others were more than 35 years old, which put them beyond the age bracket for youth.”
Other applicants were unsuccessful because they “had poor credit rating or currently had a non-performing loan with some others failing to provide a valid BVN as well as incomplete or incorrect BVN.”
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