FG asks Senate to pause new federal universities, polytechnics for seven years
- The education ministry wants lawmakers to stop passing bills creating new federal tertiary institutions for seven years.
- Minister Tunji Alausa says existing universities and polytechnics are underfunded and overcrowded.
- He cited ₦1.3 trillion pledged to ASUU revitalisation, of which only ₦250 billion was released.
The Federal Government has asked the National Assembly to stop approving new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for seven years, saying the country cannot keep expanding the system while existing schools struggle for money.
The request is in a memo from the Federal Ministry of Education dated November 2, 2026, addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and copied to Senate Majority Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele. The memo, marked FME/DUE/NASS/153/Vol.1/147, was reported by Vanguard and Leadership on Friday.
In it, Education Minister Tunji Alausa said the Federal Executive Council approved the seven-year moratorium at its meeting on August 13, 2025. He asked lawmakers to "exercise restraint" on bills seeking to create more federal institutions during that period.
Why the government wants a pause
Alausa said the problem is no longer access alone but the quality of what already exists. He listed inadequate lecture halls, overcrowded classrooms, poorly equipped laboratories, too few qualified lecturers, accommodation deficits and decaying facilities.
He also pointed to unpaid commitments. Of the ₦1.3 trillion pledged under the 2013–2018 Federal Government-ASUU revitalisation agreement, only ₦250 billion was released between 2013 and 2021, according to the memo. Of the extra ₦150 billion approved in 2025 for Needs Assessment Intervention, only ₦50 billion came through at first.
"These funding gaps demonstrate the difficulty of meeting existing obligations," the minister said, warning that new schools without guaranteed funding could become liabilities that future governments must merge or close.
He cited Ekiti State, where three state universities were merged into Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, in 2011, and Imo State, which reviewed several institutions. Some states have also asked the Federal Government to take over their universities because they could not sustain them, he said.
Alausa said other countries, including Australia, Finland, Japan, the United States and South Africa, have used mergers and consolidation to cut duplication and save money.
What happens next
The National Assembly has the constitutional power to create institutions, and the memo is an appeal, not a directive. Bills for new federal tertiary institutions are still before lawmakers, and it is up to the Senate and House of Representatives whether to slow them down.
For students and parents, the immediate effect is none: no existing school is being closed. But the proposal signals that the government plans to spend the next seven years fixing lecture halls, laboratories and staffing in schools that already exist rather than opening new ones.
