The Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending requests for the establishment of tertiary institutions.
The Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across the country.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the development on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
The newly approved institutions are Tazkiyah University, Kaduna; Leadership University, Abuja; Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara; Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo; Greenland University, Jigawa; JEFAP University, Niger; Azione Verde University, Imo; Unique Open University, Lagos; and American Open University, Ogun.
Alausa said the Tinubu administration inherited 551 requests for new tertiary institutions but stricter guidelines reduced them to 79 active applications, out of which nine were approved. “Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have since introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and today’s approvals are a result of clearing this backlog,” he said. The government also placed a moratorium on fresh applications except those meeting new standards.