PHOTO FILE: Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa

The Federal Government has granted approval for the establishment of nine new private universities across the country.

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

He said the newly approved institutions 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; and American Open University, Ogun State.

Alausa explained that the approvals followed a review of 551 pending applications for the establishment of tertiary institutions inherited by the Tinubu administration. He said the applications were subjected to stricter operational guidelines, which reduced the number to 79 active requests, out of which nine were cleared by the council.

According to him, several of the newly approved institutions had been awaiting accreditation for over six years, with their promoters having already developed campuses and invested significant resources. He attributed the delays to inefficiencies within the National Universities Commission (NUC), adding that recent reforms in the agency had streamlined the process.

The minister further announced that the Federal Government had placed a moratorium on new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, except those that meet the revised operational standards.