FG exempts federal universities from recruitment waiver rule
…President Tinubu says reform will give governing councils more power over hiring The federal government has scrapped the requirement for
The recruitment waiver system requires federal universities to seek approval from the presidency or relevant oversight bodies before filling vacant staff positions, a rule introduced as part of broader federal government measures to control the wage bill and check unchecked expansion of the public service headcount. Critics within the university system have long argued that the policy slows down hiring, undermines the autonomy of governing councils, and worsens staffing shortages in institutions already grappling with large student-to-lecturer ratios.
Coverage of this development is split on what has actually changed. One report quotes President Tinubu's administration as saying the waiver requirement has been scrapped for federal universities, with hiring powers being handed back to individual governing councils as part of a wider reform push. Another report, however, cites the Federal Ministry of Education pushing back on that characterisation, insisting the waiver policy remains in force and that only the approval process has been clarified. The discrepancy leaves unresolved questions about whether any policy shift has occurred, what exactly "clarifying the approval process" means in practice, and how soon affected universities might see changes to their recruitment procedures.