Ehindero Moves to Halt Tuition Fee Hikes in Public Tertiary Institutions

… House Urges FG to Increase Funding, Orders Probe into Recent Fee Increases

Oru Leonard 

Hon. Ifeoluwa Babajide Ehindero, member representing Akoko North-East/Akoko North-West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has moved a motion seeking urgent intervention to address rising tuition fees and other charges in public tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

The motion, considered during plenary on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, raised concerns over reported fee increases of more than 100 per cent in some public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, warning that the development could further restrict access to higher education, particularly for students from low-income families.

Ehindero, while presenting the motion, emphasised the need to protect the right of Nigerian students to affordable and equitable education, citing Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which provides for government policies aimed at ensuring equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels.

He also highlighted the role of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) in providing interest-free loans to eligible students to ease the financial burden of tertiary education.

The lawmaker, however, expressed concern that sharp increases in institutional charges could undermine the effectiveness of student-loan programmes, especially where existing funding arrangements and cost structures fail to reflect the new fees imposed by institutions.

“Access to higher education should not become increasingly difficult for Nigerian students because of sudden and substantial increases in institutional charges. 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,” he said.

Ehindero stressed the need for transparency, wider consultation and a comprehensive review of fee structures to ensure that increases reflect prevailing economic realities without excluding qualified students from educational opportunities.

He noted that although student-financing initiatives such as NELFUND were designed to reduce financial barriers, excessive increases in institutional charges could weaken their impact and leave more students struggling to meet their educational expenses.

“Student financing initiatives such as NELFUND are intended to reduce financial barriers to education. However, when charges rise sharply without adequate consideration of students’ circumstances, the very objective of widening access to higher education may be weakened. We must ensure that students are not pushed out of school because their families can no longer meet the cost,” the lawmaker added.

He maintained that addressing the challenge required sustained collaboration among the Federal Government, regulatory agencies, tertiary institution managements and other relevant stakeholders.

According to him, the objective is not to disregard the financial needs of public tertiary institutions but to ensure that their fee policies remain transparent, justified and sensitive to the economic circumstances of students and their families.

Following consideration of the motion, the House of Representatives urged the Federal Government to increase financial subventions to public tertiary institutions to reduce their dependence on student charges as a major source of internally generated revenue.

The House also called on the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to engage the managements of public tertiary institutions with a view to suspending fee increases and conducting a comprehensive review of tuition structures in line with current economic realities.

Furthermore, the House mandated the relevant committees on University Education, Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education, and Federal Colleges of Education to investigate the extent and justification for recent fee increases across public tertiary institutions.

The motion was subsequently referred to the relevant House committees for further legislative action.

The intervention underscores the National Assembly’s concern over the need to balance the financial sustainability of public tertiary institutions with the country’s responsibility to promote affordable, accessible and equitable higher education.

(Blessing James Akeju Chief Press Secretary to Hon. Ifeoluwa Ehindero)