Take-off of FUMET Nasarawa hinges on existing laws –NUC
By Uji A. Iliyasu, Abuja
The take-off of the newly upgraded Federal University of Mining, Engineering and Technology (FUMET), Nasarawa, will depend largely on whether existing laws support its conversion from Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has said.
Speaking at the 2026 Annual Education Summit organised by the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, the NUC Director of Research, Innovation and Technology, L.M. Faruk, who represented the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, explained that the timeline for the institution’s take-off would not be determined by political pronouncement alone, but by regulatory and legislative processes.
Faruk noted that the NUC’s role is limited to accreditation, structuring and manpower matters, stressing that the Federal Ministry of Education must first formally communicate the conversion to the Commission before further steps can be taken.
He added that the process must also be guided by either an existing or a new law enacted by the National Assembly, noting that conversions backed by existing legislation covering their establishment or upgrade tend to take off more swiftly than those requiring fresh legal backing.
On the fate of students currently enrolled at the polytechnic, Faruk said it remained difficult to state with certainty what would happen to them, though he indicated that existing students would likely be permitted to complete their National Diploma (ND) or Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes before the full transition to university status takes effect.
President Bola Tinubu had recently approved the upgrade of Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, to Federal University of Mining, Engineering and Technology (FUMET) part of a broader push to expand specialised technical and engineering education across the country. However, Faruk’s remarks at the ECAN summit suggest that the actual commencement of academic activities under the new university status may take longer than anticipated, pending the necessary legal and regulatory groundwork.