Senate stop bills for new universities, polytechnics for up to seven years
- Senate don direct im committees and Clerk to stop work on bills wey dey create new universities and other tertiary institutions.
- Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele talk say di freeze go let existing schools fix infrastructure and academic standards first.
- Senate President Godswill Akpabio talk say President Bola Tinubu support five-to-seven-year pause on new institutions.
Di Senate don direct im committees and di Clerk of di Senate to stop processing bills wey dey seek to create new universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, according to Federal Government policy wey pause new tertiary institutions.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele announce di directive at plenary on Wednesday for Abuja. He talk say di policy mean to let existing institutions strong their operations and infrastructure before dem add more.
He ask di Clerk, Dr Emmanuel Odo, to inform lawmakers about di government position, noting say some senators fit no know about am. He also advise di education committees make dem no bring such bills to di floor.
Bamidele acknowledge say lawmakers often find am hard to turn down colleagues wey dey seek new institutions for dia areas.
Wetin Tinubu tell National Assembly leaders
Senate President Godswill Akpabio talk say President Bola Tinubu don discuss di matter with National Assembly leaders and oppose new tertiary institutions for di next five to seven years.
According to Akpabio, di pause go give existing schools time to develop infrastructure and start proper academic work. He talk say some recently established universities dey exist mostly on paper, with some never secure permanent sites or complete site clearance.
"Establishing a university na serious national responsibility and dem no suppose treat am with di same simplicity as establishing primary schools," Akpabio talk.
He add say universities na national institutions wey dem expect to admit students from across di country, and say government don try to spread dem evenly, so di focus now suppose be to consolidate wetin dey exist.
Di Senate then adjourn plenary until November 10, 2026.
Why e matter to students and parents
Di freeze fit stall or kill more than 200 pending bills for new institutions, according to Daily Post. For families wey hope say a new school go open near dem, dat mean fewer new admission spaces in di short term.
Di government first announce di policy in March. Education Minister Tunji Alausa talk then say di temporary freeze na to strengthen existing institutions rather than expand without adequate infrastructure and resources.
He cite Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) figures wey show say more than 2.3 million candidates seek admission di previous year, while fewer than 228,000 get places in public universities.
Outlets differ small on di length of di pause. Punch and Naija News describe a six-year moratorium; Akpabio talk of five to seven years.
Wetin happen next: Di Senate resume on November 10. Bills wey already dey pipeline dey expected to stay off di Order Paper unless di policy change.
