The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has asked the National Assembly to stop creating new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for seven years.
He made the appeal in a memo to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, dated November 2, 2026, and seen in Abuja.
Alausa said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the seven-year moratorium at its meeting of August 13, 2025. According to him, it was meant to stop the “growing proliferation” of institutions, duplication of programmes and under-use of facilities.
He said bills for new institutions have continued to flood the Senate despite the policy.
“The immediate challenge confronting the tertiary education sector is not merely the expansion of access, but the urgent need to strengthen existing institutions,” Alausa stated.
The minister warned that Nigeria is spreading scarce resources across more institutions while existing ones struggle. He listed inadequate lecture halls, overcrowded classrooms, insufficient laboratories, shortages of qualified personnel, accommodation deficits and deteriorating facilities.
He also pointed to funding gaps. Of the N1.3 trillion promised for the revitalisation of public universities between 2013 and 2018, only N250 billion, which is less than 20 per cent, was released between 2013 and 2021.
Of the additional N150 billion approved in 2025 for the Needs Assessment Intervention, only N50 billion was released.
“These funding gaps demonstrate the difficulty of meeting existing obligations and raise legitimate concerns about the capacity to sustain additional institutions without corresponding and guaranteed budgetary provisions,” he said.
Alausa cited Ekiti and Imo states as examples of what happens when institutions are created without enough funding.
He also noted that the government is already stretched by competing commitments. These include TETFund infrastructure, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), vocational and skills programmes, and the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) and Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Tools Allowance (CONTTA).
According to him, setting up a university is more than passing a law. It brings long-term costs such as take-off grants, land, infrastructure, recruitment, equipment, utilities and recurrent spending.
“Such obligations extend beyond the administration that initiates the establishment and become continuing liabilities for successive governments,” he stated.
He said countries including Australia, Finland, Japan, the United States and South Africa have merged and consolidated institutions to cut costs, remove duplication, improve governance and strengthen research. Nigeria, he argued, should prioritise viability and quality over numbers.
Alausa clarified that the moratorium is not a permanent ban on access or future expansion where there is compelling national need. It is meant to give the government time to fix deficiencies, raise standards and plan future growth properly.
“In view of the foregoing, I respectfully appeal to Your Excellency and the distinguished leadership of the National Assembly to support the federal government’s seven-year moratorium by exercising restraint in the consideration and passage of Bills for the establishment of additional Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education during the period,” the memo stated.
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