By Chidiebere Ugwu
Hon. Ifeoluwa Babajide Ehindero, Member representing Akoko North-East/Akoko North-West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has moved a motion calling for urgent halt over rising tuition and other charges in public tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
According to a statement signed by Blessing James Akeju, Chief Press Secretary To Hon. Ifeoluwa Ehindero, the motion, considered during plenary on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, expressed concern over reported fee increases exceeding 100 per cent in some public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, warning that such increases could undermine access to higher education, particularly for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
In the motion, Hon. Ehindero highlighted the importance of Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which directs government policy towards 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 ease financial barriers to tertiary education.
Hon. Ifeoluwa expressed concern that substantial increases in institutional charges could undermine the effectiveness and sustainability of student-loan interventions, particularly where existing tuition benchmarks and institutional cost structures do not reflect the new charges.
Speaking on the motion, Hon. Ehindero said:
“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 further stressed the need for consultation, transparency, and a comprehensive review of fee structures in line with prevailing economic realities.
“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.”
Hon. Ehindero maintained that protecting students’ access to education requires sustained collaboration among the Federal Government, regulatory agencies, institutional managements, and other relevant stakeholders.
He reiterated that the objective was not to disregard the financial needs of tertiary institutions, but to ensure that fee policies remain transparent, justified, and sensitive to the economic realities of students and their families.
The motion underscores the need to balance the financial sustainability of public tertiary institutions with the national responsibility to expand access to affordable and equitable higher education.
Following consideration of the motion, the House urged the Federal Government to increase financial subventions to public tertiary institutions to reduce their dependence on student charges as a source of internally generated revenue.
The House also urged the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to engage the management of public tertiary institutions with a view to suspending fee increases and undertaking a comprehensive review of tuition structures in line with current economic realities.
Additionally, 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 by public tertiary institutions.
The motion was referred to the relevant House committees for further legislative action.
