The Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across Nigeria, following years of pending applications.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the decision on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
The newly licensed institutions include 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 tertiary institution approvals. After stricter screening, the list was reduced to 79 active applications, with nine receiving clearance on Wednesday.
He added that several of these new private universities had awaited accreditation for over six years despite having completed campuses and invested billions of naira. The delays, he said, were due to inefficiencies within the National Universities Commission (NUC), which have now been addressed through reforms.
The Federal Government has also placed a moratorium on new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, except for institutions meeting the new operational standards.
