The Federal Government has approved the establishment of American Open University, Ogun State and other eight new private universities across Nigeria.

Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the approval on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

Other newly licensed institutions 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, and

Unique Open University, Lagos State,

Alausa said the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending applications for new tertiary institutions, which were reviewed under stricter guidelines, reducing the list to 79 active proposals. Out of these, nine met the criteria and were cleared for approval.

He noted that several of the approved universities had been awaiting accreditation for over six years, with promoters having already constructed campuses and invested billions of naira.

“Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have now reformed the process to make it more efficient, and today’s approvals are part of clearing that backlog,” he said.

The minister added that a moratorium has been placed on fresh applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, except for those that meet the new operational standards.