The House of Representatives on Thursday faulted the procedure for accreditation of academic programmes of Nigerian universities by the National Universities Commission.
It said the procedure appeared to be “fraudulent” as it was designed to favour institutions willing to do the “bidding of the leadership of the NUC.”
In a resolution passed in Abuja, the House condemned the “imbalance” in accreditation of programmes.
The House asked its Committee on Education to investigate the matter and determine whether Nigerian universities met the minimum standards of accreditation.
“The House resolves to mandate the committee to determine whether or not the procedure for regulating Nigerian universities should be reviewed to enable Nigeria to meet international standard and then curtail the capital flight arising from Nigerians patronising foreign universities,” the resolution added.
A lawmaker from Lagos State, Mr. Abayomi Abdul-Kabir, who moved a motion on the subject, said over the years, there had been allegations that the NUC favoured particular areas while accrediting programmes.
He told the House that programmes were accredited in many universities where there were no requisite facilities to support learning, while institutions that met the criteria were denied accreditation.
The lawmaker added, “The House is disturbed that the procedure for selecting accreditation officials lacks credibility and is biased in favour of only members of the academia capable of doing the bidding of the leadership of the NUC.
“The House feels that the process of accreditation ought to recognise some levels of performance, quality and integrity, which engender confidence from the public and the academic community.”
# As reported by Punch Newspaper.