FG seeks seven-year ban on new federal varsities, others

The Federal Government has asked the National Assembly to suspend the passage of bills seeking to establish new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for seven years, as more than 200 proposals for new tertiary institutions remain before lawmakers.

The government warned that the continued proliferation of tertiary institutions, amid inadequate funding and declining infrastructure, could worsen the country’s education crisis and undermine academic standards.

The request was contained in a memo dated November 2, 2026, from the Federal Ministry of Education to the  President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and sighted in Abuja on Thursday.

In the memo, marked FME/DUE/NASS/153/Vol.1/147, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, urged the Senate leadership and other lawmakers to exercise legislative restraint in considering bills seeking to establish additional federal tertiary institutions.

The appeal comes against the backdrop of more than 200 bills seeking to establish new federal tertiary institutions in the National Assembly, covering proposed federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. However, an exact breakdown of the proposals by category was not provided.

Alausa said the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its meeting on August 13, 2025, approved a seven-year moratorium on establishing new federal tertiary institutions as part of efforts to address the proliferation of public institutions, duplication of academic programmes, under-utilisation of existing facilities and the government’s declining capacity to adequately fund the sector.

According to him, the immediate challenge facing Nigeria’s tertiary education system is no longer simply the expansion of access but the need to strengthen existing institutions through improved funding, infrastructure, personnel and modern teaching and research facilities.

“The Federal Government’s position is that the immediate challenge confronting the tertiary education sector is not merely the expansion of access, but the urgent need to strengthen existing institutions,” the minister stated.

He added that the moratorium would provide an opportunity to consolidate existing investments and improve the quality and carrying capacity of institutions already established.

The minister expressed concern that legislative proposals for additional federal tertiary institutions continued to receive attention despite the government’s policy direction.

While acknowledging the constitutional powers of the National Assembly to initiate and enact legislation, Alausa maintained that such initiatives should be guided by prevailing national education policies, demonstrable educational needs and the financial implications of establishing new institutions.

He warned that spreading limited resources across more institutions without addressing the challenges confronting existing ones could further weaken the quality of tertiary education.

“Existing Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education are confronted with serious funding and infrastructure deficits, including inadequate lecture halls, overcrowded classrooms, insufficient laboratories, shortages of qualified personnel, accommodation deficits and deteriorating facilities,” he stated.

One of the major concerns raised in the memo was the Federal Government’s outstanding financial commitments to the revitalisation of public universities.

Alausa disclosed that under the 2013-2018 Federal Government-ASUU revitalisation commitment of N1.3 trillion, only N250 billion was reportedly released between 2013 and 2021.

He also revealed that of the additional N150 billion approved in 2025 for Needs Assessment Intervention, only N50 billion was initially released, leaving a substantial outstanding commitment.

“These funding gaps demonstrate the difficulty of meeting existing obligations and raise legitimate concerns about the capacity to sustain additional institutions without corresponding and guaranteed budgetary provisions,” he stated.

The minister cited the experiences of Ekiti and Imo states as examples of the financial and administrative difficulties associated with establishing multiple tertiary institutions without sustainable funding arrangements.

He recalled that three state-owned universities in Ekiti State were consolidated into a single institution, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, in 2011.

Similarly, he said Imo State had undertaken institutional reviews and integration following the establishment of several tertiary institutions under previous administrations.

Alausa also noted that some state governments had approached the Federal Government to take over their universities because of their inability to sustain the institutions financially.

He further cited international experiences, including Australia, Finland, Japan, the United States and South Africa, where institutional mergers and consolidation had been adopted to address financial constraints, duplication of programmes and administrative inefficiencies.

The minister identified competing funding priorities within the education sector as another reason lawmakers should support the moratorium.

According to the memo, the Federal Government is already committing substantial resources to interventions such as Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) infrastructure development, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), vocational and skills acquisition programmes, as well as the implementation of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) and Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Tools Allowance (CONTTA).

He stressed that establishing a tertiary institution involved much more than passing an enabling law, as it imposed long-term financial obligations on government.

Such obligations, he explained, included land acquisition, take-off grants, infrastructure, recruitment of personnel, procurement of equipment, utilities and recurrent expenditure.

Alausa cautioned that passing establishment bills without comprehensive feasibility studies, demonstrable national educational needs and credible long-term funding arrangements could result in institutions that exist only in law but lack the resources and capacity to function effectively.

However, he clarified that the seven-year moratorium was not intended to permanently deny Nigerians access to tertiary education or prevent future expansion where compelling national needs existed.

Rather, he said the policy was designed to give the government time to consolidate existing investments, address institutional deficiencies, improve academic standards and ensure that any future expansion was properly planned and financially sustainable.

He therefore appealed directly to Akpabio and the leadership of the National Assembly to support the policy.

“In view of the foregoing, I respectfully appeal to Your Excellency and the distinguished leadership of the National Assembly to support the Federal Government’s seven-year moratorium by exercising restraint in the consideration and passage of Bills for the establishment of additional Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education during the period,” the memo stated.

Alausa maintained that the success of Nigeria’s tertiary education system should not be measured by the number of institutions established but by their ability to provide quality education, produce competent graduates and contribute meaningfully to national development.

The memo was also copied to the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele.