Tinubu approved Epe university before ban on new tertiary institutions – Minister

The Federal Ministry of Education has clarified that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, approved the establishment of the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe, Lagos State, well before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) imposed a seven-year moratorium on the creation of new federal tertiary institutions.

According to a statement signed by Folasade Boriowo, director, Press and Public Relations, Maruf Tunji Alausa, minister of education, explained that the President had given his approval for the new university through a Presidential Executive Memo prior to the FEC decision.

Alausa further clarified that the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe, Lagos; the Federal University of Science and Technology, Kachia, Kaduna State; and the Federal University of Environment and Technology, Tai and Koroma, in Ogoniland, Rivers State, were all approved simultaneously by President Tinubu.

He noted that the public announcement of the Epe university came later only because the Senate had gone on its 2025 annual recess before passing the establishment bill.

According to him, the bill was passed upon the resumption of the National Assembly, leading to a delay in its formal transmission to the President.

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The Minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to enforcing the seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal tertiary institutions, stressing that the policy remains “sacrosanct.”

He assured that, apart from those institutions already approved before the moratorium, no new federal universities, polytechnics, or colleges of education will be created during the stipulated period.