The House of Representatives has called for an urgent suspension of recent tuition and other fee increases across Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions, warning that steep hikes could deny thousands of students access to higher education.
The call followed a motion sponsored by Hon. Ifeoluwa Babajide Ehindero, representing the Akoko North-East/ Akoko North-West Federal Constituency, during plenary on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
The motion raised concerns over reported increases of more than 100 per cent in fees charged by some public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
According to Ehindero, the increases could place higher education beyond the reach of students from low-income and economically disadvantaged families.
He cited Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which directs government policy towards ensuring equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels.
He also referenced the Nigeria Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, established to provide interest-free loans to eligible students and reduce financial barriers to tertiary education.
Ehindero warned that sharp increases in institutional charges could undermine the effectiveness of student-loan schemes, particularly where existing tuition benchmarks and institutional cost structures do not reflect newly imposed fees.
“Access to higher education should not become increasingly difficult for Nigerian students because of sudden and substantial increases in institutional charges,” he said.
“While we recognise the financial pressures facing our institutions, there must be a careful balance between institutional sustainability and the ability of ordinary Nigerian families to afford education.”
The lawmaker called for greater consultation and transparency in the determination of institutional charges, as well as a comprehensive review of fee structures in line with prevailing economic conditions.
He said student-financing initiatives such as NELFUND were designed to widen access to education, but warned that their objectives could be weakened if institutions continued to raise charges without adequately considering students’ financial circumstances.
“We must ensure that students are not pushed out of school because their families can no longer meet the cost,” Ehindero said.
The lawmaker stressed that protecting access to education would require sustained cooperation among the Federal Government, regulatory agencies, managements of tertiary institutions and other relevant stakeholders.
He clarified that the motion was not intended to ignore the financial challenges facing public tertiary institutions.
Rather, he said, fee policies should be transparent, properly justified and sensitive to the economic realities confronting students and their families.
Following consideration of the motion, the House urged the Federal Government to increase financial subventions to public tertiary institutions.
It said improved funding would help reduce institutions’ dependence on tuition and other student charges as sources of internally generated revenue.
The House also called on the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission to engage the managements of public tertiary institutions with a view to suspending recent fee increases and conducting a comprehensive review of tuition structures.
The review, lawmakers said, should take current economic realities and students’ ability to pay into account.
In addition, the House mandated its committees on University Education, Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education, and Federal Colleges of Education to investigate the extent and justification for the recent increases.
The motion was subsequently referred to the relevant House committees for further legislative action.
