FULL LIST: Tinubu Government Approves 9 New Private Universities

By Odekunle Doyin
The Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across the country in a major expansion of Nigeria’s higher education sector.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the approvals on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
List of Newly Approved Institutions
The newly licensed private universities are:
- Tazkiyah University, Kaduna State
- Leadership University, Abuja
- Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara State
- Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo State
- Greenland University, Jigawa State
- JEFAP University, Niger State
- Azione Verde University, Imo State
- Unique Open University, Lagos State
- American Open University, Ogun State
From 551 Applications to 9 Approvals
Alausa revealed that the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending applications for the creation of new tertiary institutions. After applying stricter approval guidelines, the list was reduced to 79 active applications, with only nine receiving approval on Wednesday.
“Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and today’s approvals are part of clearing this backlog,” the minister said.
Moratorium on New Federal Institutions
The Minister also reiterated the Federal Government’s decision to halt the establishment of additional federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, focusing instead on strengthening existing public institutions.