The Federal Ministry of Education has clarified that the Presidential approval for the establishment of the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe, Lagos State, was granted before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) adopted the seven-year moratorium on the creation of new tertiary institutions.
In a statement issued by the Ministry, the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, explained that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, had earlier approved the establishment of the universities in Epe, Kachia, and Ogoniland through a Presidential Executive Memo.
The approval, he said, was obtained prior to FEC’s decision to suspend the creation of new federal tertiary institutions for the next seven years.
According to the Ministry, the announcement of the Epe University came at a later date due to the National Assembly’s 2025 annual recess, which delayed the legislative process, including the passage and transmission of the establishment bill to the President for assent.
Dr. Alausa emphasized that the Federal Government remains firmly committed to implementing the moratorium policy, describing it as “sacrosanct and binding.”
He assured that while the approved universities would proceed as planned, no new tertiary institutions would be established during the moratorium period in line with the government’s policy direction on rationalizing educational resources and strengthening existing institutions.
