The Federal Government has asked the National Assembly to impose a seven-year moratorium on the creation of new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, arguing that the country must first address chronic underfunding, deteriorating infrastructure and declining academic standards across its existing institutions.
In a November 2 memo to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the moratorium on August 13, 2025, as part of an effort to curb the proliferation of public tertiary institutions, reduce duplication of academic programmes and improve the use of existing facilities.
The memo, marked FME/DUE/NASS/153/Vol.1/147, was also copied to Senate Majority Leader Opeyemi Bamidele.
Alausa said Nigeria can no longer afford to spread limited public resources across a growing number of institutions while existing federal tertiary schools struggle with overcrowded classrooms, inadequate laboratories, staff shortages, accommodation deficits and decaying infrastructure.
He argued that the immediate challenge facing the sector is not expanding access, but strengthening institutions already in operation.
“The immediate challenge confronting the tertiary education sector is not merely the expansion of access but the urgent need to strengthen existing institutions,” the Minister wrote.
The Minister said the pause would allow the government to consolidate past investments, address existing deficiencies and raise the carrying capacity of operational institutions before approving further expansion.
Alausa cited the government’s unresolved financial obligations to the university system as evidence that new institutions could strain public finances further.
Of the 1.3 trillion naira pledged under the 2013–2018 Federal Government-ASUU revitalisation agreement, only 250 billion naira was released between 2013 and 2021, according to the memo.
He also said that, of an additional 150 billion naira approved in 2025 for Needs Assessment Intervention, only 50 billion naira had initially been 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 wrote.
The Minister warned that creating new schools without guaranteed funding could leave them unable to provide basic academic services, while deepening the financial pressure on existing institutions.
Although he acknowledged the National Assembly’s constitutional authority to establish federal institutions, Alausa urged lawmakers to weigh the long-term financial implications of new establishment bills against demonstrable national needs.
He asked the Senate and other members of the legislature to refrain from considering or passing bills for new federal tertiary institutions during the seven-year period.
“I respectfully appeal to Your Excellency and the distinguished leadership of the National Assembly to support the Federal Government’s seven-year moratorium,” he wrote.
The Minister said legislation alone does not create a functioning university.
Establishing an institution requires land acquisition, take-off grants, construction, staff recruitment, equipment procurement, utilities and recurring operating costs, obligations that extend across successive administrations.
Alausa pointed to Ekiti and Imo states as examples of the risks of unchecked expansion.
He said Ekiti consolidated three state-owned universities into Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, in 2011, while Imo State had reviewed and integrated several institutions created under earlier administrations.
He added that some state governments had approached the federal government seeking to transfer ownership of their universities because they could no longer sustain them.
Institutions created without credible funding plans, he warned, may eventually require costly mergers, restructuring or closure.
“Such institutions may eventually become financial liabilities, compelling future administrations to undertake costly mergers, restructuring or outright closure, with attendant consequences for students, staff, public investments and the national education system,” he stated.
The Minister cited Australia, Finland, Japan, the U.S. and South Africa as countries that have used institutional mergers and consolidation to address funding constraints, programme duplication and administrative inefficiencies.
He said such reforms can improve governance, create economies of scale, strengthen research capacity and make more efficient use of public resources.
Nigeria, he argued, should prioritise institutional viability, academic quality and efficient resource use over the continued creation of new institutions.
Alausa said new institutions could also divert resources from existing federal education programmes, including infrastructure interventions by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETF), the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, (NELFUND), vocational and skills acquisition initiatives, as well as the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) and the Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Tools Allowance (CONTTA) for academic and non-academic personnel.
He said the government intends to use the moratorium to strengthen existing institutions, improve infrastructure, address staffing shortages and raise academic standards.
Any future expansion, he added, should be supported by credible financial and administrative planning.
“The success of our education system should be measured not merely by the number of institutions established but by the capacity of existing institutions to deliver high-quality education, produce competent graduates and contribute meaningfully to national development,” the Minister wrote.
