News Update

THE Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across Nigeria, bringing the country’s tally of tertiary institutions under private ownership to new heights.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the approvals on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

The newly licensed universities 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

American Open University, Ogun State.

Alausa revealed that the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending applications for the establishment of tertiary institutions.

These were subjected to stricter guidelines, which reduced the list to 79 active cases — with the nine approved on Wednesday clearing a backlog that, in some cases, had lingered for more than six years.

“Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have since introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and today’s approvals are a result of clearing this backlog,” the minister said.

He added that many of the approved institutions already had campuses and had invested billions of naira while awaiting accreditation.

A moratorium has now been placed on new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, except those meeting the newly introduced operational standards.