The Tinubu Administration, through the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has written members and leaders of the National Assembly to stop considering and passing bills that would create new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
In the letter, Dr. Alausa said if the NASS continues to create new higher institutions it would be against a moratorium the Federal Executive Council adopted last year.
In the copy of the letter dated 2nd November 2026 to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Minister asked the National Assembly to support the Federal Government’s moratorium of seven years on new federal tertiary institutions.
He wrote that the appeal was made “in the interest of educational quality, fiscal sustainability and the efficient utilization of public resources.”
The Federal Executive Council approved the moratorium at its meeting on the 13th of August 2025. According to the Minister, the decision followed concerns about “institutional proliferation, duplication of programmes, under-utilisation of existing facilities and the declining capacity of Government to adequately fund and sustain the growing number of public tertiary institutions.”
He noted that legislative proposals for new institutions were still receiving attention “despite this clearly articulated policy direction.”
He acknowledged the constitutional powers of the National Assembly to initiate and enact legislation, but argued that such proposals should reflect national education policy, demonstrable needs and the financial implications of creating more institutions.
The Minister further went on to say that the main task facing the sector was no longer simply widening access, rather “the urgent need to strengthen existing institutions through improved infrastructure, adequate funding, recruitment of qualified academic and non-academic personnel, provision of modern teaching and research facilities, and improved institutional efficiency.”
Dr. Alausa listed the problems facing existing federal institutions as inadequate lecture halls, overcrowded classrooms, insufficient laboratories, shortages of qualified staff, accommodation deficits and deteriorating facilities.
“Spreading limited resources across additional institutions without first addressing these deficiencies will further weaken the capacity of existing institutions to deliver quality education,” he said.
Citing Unfulfilled obligations as evidence of the strain on public finances, Dr. Alausa noted that under the 2013 to 2018 revitalisation commitment to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, valued at ₦1.3 trillion, only ₦250 billion was reportedly released between 2013 and 2021. Of the additional ₦150 billion approved in 2025 for the Needs Assessment Intervention, only ₦50 billion was initially released.
He said these gaps raised “legitimate concerns about the capacity to sustain additional institutions without corresponding and guaranteed budgetary provisions.”
The Minister also noted that the Federal Government is already funding TETFund infrastructure projects, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, vocational and skills programmes, and the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance and Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Tools Allowance for academic and non-academic staff. These commitments, he said, should not be undermined by new institutions without identified funding sources.
Dr. Alausa cited the experience of state governments; in Ekiti State, three state-owned universities were merged into Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, in 2011. Imo State also reviewed and integrated several tertiary institutions set up under earlier administrations. Some states, he added, have asked the Federal Government to take over universities they could not sustainably finance.
Referencing Australia, Finland, Japan, the United States and South Africa, which have merged and consolidated institutions to deal with financial constraints, duplicated programmes and administrative inefficiency, he called for Nigeria to “similarly prioritise institutional viability and quality over the continuous expansion of institutional numbers.”
The Minister stressed that creating a tertiary institution “goes beyond the enactment of an enabling law” and brings obligations such as take-off grants, land, infrastructure, staff, equipment, utilities and recurrent costs. These, he observed, become “continuing liabilities for successive governments.”
He warned that passing establishment bills without feasibility studies, demonstrable need and credible long-term funding could produce “institutions that exist in law but lack the resources and capacity to function effectively,” noting that the moratorium is “not intended to permanently deny Nigerians access to tertiary education or preclude future expansion where compelling national needs exist,” but “provides a strategic period for Government to consolidate existing investments, address institutional deficiencies, improve quality and ensure that any future expansion is properly planned and financially sustainable.”
Expressing confidence that the Executive and the Legislature would work together to reposition the sector, Dr Alausa reiterated “the success of our education system should be measured not merely by the number of institutions established, but by the capacity of existing institutions to deliver high quality education, produce competent graduates and contribute meaningfully to national development.”
5th November, 2026
