Nine new private institutions have been authorized by the federal government to open nationwide.
Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, informed State House media of the approval on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, which was chaired by President Bola Tinubu.
According to him, the following universities have recently received approval: Bridget University in Mbaise, Imo State; Jimoh Babalola University in Kwara State; JEFAP University in Niger State; Azione Verde University in Imo State; American Open University in Ogun State; and Tazkiyah University in Kaduna State.
Alausa revealed that 551 pending proposals for the creation of tertiary institutions were passed down to the Tinubu administration, who had to follow more stringent clearance procedures.
He claimed that as a result, there were now only 79 applications on the list, nine of which were approved on Wednesday.
He clarified that the founders of several of the authorized universities had previously constructed campuses and made billions of naira investments, but that they had been waiting for accreditation for more than six years.
The NUC’s inefficiencies caused delays in clearances. Since then, we have implemented changes to expedite these procedures, and today’s approvals are the outcome of reducing this backlog,” Alausa stated.
The minister went on to say that new applications for private institutions of education, universities, and polytechnics have been suspended by the Federal Government, with the exception of those that satisfy the new operational requirements.
