The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has warned universities, polytechnics and colleges of education against presenting borrowed academic staff, equipment and facilities during accreditation exercises, saying institutions must demonstrate genuine and sustainable capacity before receiving approval for academic programmes.
Alausa gave the warning in Abuja while inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Strengthening Accreditation and Quality Assurance Systems for Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.
The minister said the Federal Government was working to transform accreditation from a periodic exercise into a continuous, digital and data-driven quality assurance system capable of accurately verifying the actual capacity of tertiary institutions.
He said the existing process must become more transparent, efficient, evidence-based and resistant to manipulation, stressing that accreditation should give regulators an accurate picture of an institution’s ability to provide quality education.
Alausa said institutions should no longer be allowed to create a temporary impression of their capacity simply to satisfy an accreditation team.
“An institution should not be able to prepare a temporary picture of itself simply for the purpose of an accreditation visit. Sadly, this is what persists in the majority of instances,” Alausa said.
No more borrowed facilities
The minister said the government would also tackle the practice of temporarily moving academic and non-academic personnel to institutions ahead of accreditation exercises 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.
Alausa stressed that everything presented to an accreditation team must represent the institution’s actual and sustainable capacity rather than resources temporarily brought in for inspection.
He said technology would be deployed to strengthen the verification of infrastructure, equipment and personnel, including through 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.
Digital verification of staff
On staffing, Alausa called for a comprehensive digital identity management and staff verification framework that would allow regulators to establish the identity, physical presence and institutional affiliation of personnel presented during accreditation.
He said the proposed system would leverage national identity infrastructure and interoperable government databases while remaining subject to applicable data protection laws.
The Director of Polytechnic Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Amy Igwe, said the committee was expected to contribute to developing a stronger, more transparent and credible accreditation system.
Igwe said the initiative demonstrated the government’s commitment to improving the education sector and protecting the interests of Nigerian students.
FG releases CATA for academic staff
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has announced the release of the full Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for the eight-month period covering January to August 2026.
CATA is a financial allowance provided to academic staff to assist them in purchasing essential tools and materials needed for teaching, research and other academic activities.
Alausa said the payment was made in line with the provisions of the 2025 Federal Government–Academic Staff Union of Universities (FGN/ASUU) agreement and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to implementing the agreement.
“The Office of the Minister of Education is happy to announce that the full CATA payment has now been released by the Federal Government from January to August 2026 to all universities, all polytechnics and colleges of education.
“All these institutions should have received notification to start paying CATA to all academic staff.”
The minister added that the payment process for non-academic staff was also underway.
“And also, the payment to non-academic staff, we’re hoping that these funds will be made available, hopefully, in the next few weeks,” he said.
According to Alausa, the release of the allowance further demonstrates President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving the welfare of academic and non-academic workers across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
Source: Federal Ministry of Education
