The Federal Government’s push to enforce transparency in federal universities has hit a major setback, as most institutions failed to meet the May 31 deadline to publish key financial and institutional data on their websites.
Findings from a survey conducted by Vanguard show that only two universities — University of Benin (UNIBEN) and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi — fully complied with the Ministry of Education’s directive issued in April. The order required all federal tertiary institutions to disclose annual budgets, TETFund allocations, internally generated revenue, research grants, endowment funds, and student population figures.
Out of 41 federal universities sampled, just three substantially complied, 22 partially complied, while 14 universities did not publish any data at all.
Among those with partial compliance are major institutions such as University of Lagos (UNILAG), Bayero University Kano (BUK), and Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE). However, they left out important information. For instance, UNILAG uploaded its 2024 financial records but omitted the 2025 TETFund allocation. FUPRE did not include current student enrollment figures, and BUK failed to publish a detailed breakdown of its student population.
Other notable universities with partial compliance include University of Ibadan (UI), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), and University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Most of them published outdated or incomplete data.
Universities that completely ignored the directive include University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), and Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna.
Speaking on the poor compliance, Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, said weak ICT infrastructure remains a major challenge. “Many universities do not have the digital capacity to host this kind of data online. We are encouraging them to improve their ICT systems. Also, the government might need to consider extending the deadline,” he said.
Meanwhile, TETFund Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, recently warned that institutions that fail to meet transparency requirements or misuse funds risk losing their funding. He explained that the policy aims to protect the integrity of public funds, not to punish institutions.
Efforts to get comments from some universities yielded mixed responses. UNIPORT’s spokesperson, Dr. Sam Kpenu, reportedly said the university was unaware of the directive. FUTA’s spokesperson confirmed they are working on compiling the data. Spokespersons from UNILORIN, ABU, and Modibbo Adama University said they would respond but had yet to do so.
The transparency drive aligns with global best practices, where public universities in the US, UK, and South Africa publish financial and operational data online to ensure accountability.
A recent audit showed that none of Nigeria’s 64 federal universities had fully published their financial records online, highlighting the uphill task ahead.
As the government tightens oversight of public funds, the coming months will show whether Nigerian federal universities will comply fully or face funding sanctions.
