The Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across Nigeria.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the decision on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
The newly approved institutions are Tazkiyah University, Kaduna State; Leadership University, Abuja; Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara State; Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo State; Greenland University, Jigawa State; JEFAP University, Niger State; Azione Verde University, Imo State; Unique Open University, Lagos State; and American Open University, Ogun State.
Alausa revealed that the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending requests for the establishment of tertiary institutions, which were reviewed under stricter approval guidelines. This review reduced the list to 79 active applications, out of which nine were cleared for approval on Wednesday.
He noted that several of the approved universities had been awaiting accreditation for more than six years, with their promoters having already built campuses and invested billions of naira.
βDue to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have since introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and todayβs approvals are a result of clearing this backlog,β the minister said.
Alausa further disclosed that the Federal Government has placed a moratorium on new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, except for those meeting the new operational standards.
