FG appeals to NASS for 7-year ban on new federal universities amid ₦1.3tr funding gap
Education Minister Tunji Alausa has appealed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio to halt approval of bills establishing new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for seven years. In a memo dated November 2 sighted Thursday, Alausa warned that continued proliferation worsens the sector's funding crisis and undermines academic standards.
The Federal Executive Council approved the moratorium on August 13, 2025, citing duplication of programmes, under-utilised facilities and government's declining capacity to fund existing institutions. Alausa disclosed that of the ₦1.3 trillion ASUU revitalisation commitment (2013-2018), only ₦250 billion was released between 2013 and 2021. Of an additional ₦150 billion approved in 2025 for Needs Assessment Intervention, just ₦50 billion materialised.
Existing federal institutions face severe deficits: inadequate lecture halls, overcrowded classrooms, insufficient laboratories, staff shortages and deteriorating facilities. The minister cited Ekiti State's 2011 consolidation of three universities into one and Imo State's institutional reviews as cautionary tales. Some states have even asked the Federal Government to take over their unsustainable universities.
International examples from Australia, Finland, Japan, the US and South Africa show mergers and consolidation improve governance, research capacity and resource efficiency. Meanwhile, competing priorities—TETFund infrastructure, NELFUND student loans, CATA and CONTTA allowances for staff—require sustained funding that new institutions would undermine.
Alausa stressed the moratorium isn't permanent but buys time to consolidate investments and ensure future expansion is financially sustainable. He urged lawmakers to measure education success by graduate quality and national contribution, not institution count.
Will lawmakers prioritize fixing broken universities over creating new ones for political capital?