NUC suspends action on establishment of new private universities for one year 

• Begins review of guidelines
• Jerks up cost of application, others

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

National Universities Commission (NUC) has announced temporary suspension of all activities in the applications for establishment of new private universities.

It also announced the commencement of review in the guidelines for the establishment for the new private universities to meet global demands.

NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, in a statement, on Monday, noted that the actions were in line with the mandate for the orderly development of university education in Nigeria.

He said that by virtue of the provisions of the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act, CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the Commission is empowered to provide guidelines for the establishment of private universities in Nigeria.

He explained: “To this end, the NUC, in repositioning private universities in Nigeria to better meet the needs of the citizens, and for better coordination of the development of the private university education sub-sector of the Nigerian University System (NUS), has identified the need to review the guidelines for the establishment of private universities.

“This is to ensure that newly established private universities are positioned to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

“Pursuant to the above and in line with the directive of the Minister of Education, the NUC hereby inform promoters of proposed private universities in particular and the public that the Commission has suspended all inactive applications including those of private open universities (i.e. those that have not made progress on their applications or made submissions to the Commission for upwards of two years), and applications at the stage of submission of Letters of Intent only.

“The fee for purchase of application forms for the establishment of a private university has also been reviewed from N1 million to N5 million. Similarly, the processing fee for application for the establishment of a private university has also been reviewed from N5 million to N25 million.

“The NUC will convey the reviewed processing fee of N25 million to applicants that have purchased application forms only. They would be expected to effect payments within a period of 30 working days, or risk forfeiture of their pending applications.”

The NUC boss said the Commission has imposed a one year moratorium period with effect from Monday, 10th February, 2025 on inactive applications for the establishment of new private universities to enable the commission conduct a comprehensive review of such pending applications with a view to determining their viability.

He said the moratorium also covers applications on Step 1 of the 14-Step Procedure (i.e. those that have submitted Letters of Intent only), and acceptance of fresh applications for the establishment of private universities, including private open universities.

He further disclosed that the Commission is in the process of reviewing other aspects of the guidelines for the establishment of private universities in Nigeria, to ensure that the proposed universities, when licensed, are positioned to meet the challenges of the 21st century.