The Federal Government has commenced a comprehensive review of the accreditation framework for tertiary institutions nationwide, with the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, cautioning institutions against using borrowed personnel, equipment or facilities to create a false impression during accreditation exercises.
Alausa further warned that officials of tertiary institutions who breach admission and accreditation regulations could face dismissal, while private institutions found violating regulatory requirements may have their licences revoked.
The move coincides with the Federal Government’s announcement that it has fully settled the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance owed to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for the period covering January to August 2026.
The minister made the disclosure on Wednesday at the inauguration of the Ministerial Committee on Strengthening Accreditation and Quality Assurance Systems for Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.
Alausa explained that the government intends to move accreditation away from an occasional exercise to a continuous, digital and data-based quality assurance process that can establish the true capacity of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
According to him, institutions should not be permitted to temporarily inflate their facilities or personnel simply to pass an accreditation exercise.
“An institution should not be able to prepare a temporary picture of itself simply for an accreditation visit. Sadly, this is what persists in the majority of instances,” Alausa said.
He said the authorities must tackle the practice of temporarily transferring or presenting academic and non-academic staff for accreditation before returning them to their original institutions.
“We must similarly address the temporary movement, borrowing or presentation of equipment, laboratory facilities, workshop resources, library materials and other infrastructure solely for accreditation purposes,” he said.
The minister maintained that everything presented to and verified by an accreditation team must reflect the “actual and sustainable capacity” of the institution.
He said the current framework needs to be improved to make it “more transparent, efficient, evidence-based and difficult to manipulate,” noting that accreditation must provide a genuine assessment of an institution’s ability to provide quality education.
Alausa added that technology would be deployed to improve the verification of personnel, infrastructure and equipment through tools such as geospatial mapping, geotagging and digital identification systems.
“Critical equipment presented for accreditation should be capable of being digitally identified and linked to a specific institution and physical location.
“Where appropriate, such equipment should have a unique digital record showing its location, status and other relevant information,” the minister said.
