Adamawa’s Education Bill Rejected by Tinubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declined to assent to the bill seeking to establish the Federal University of Education in Numan, Adamawa State. In a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajuddeen, and read during the plenary session on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, President Tinubu outlined his reasons for withholding approval.
The President identified several issues within the bill:
- Land Disposal Authority: Section 22 of the bill grants the authority to consent to the disposal of land to the state governor. However, for federal institutions like universities, this authority should reside with the President.
- Typographical Errors:
- The term “statutes” is misspelled as “statues” in items 13 and 15 under the arrangement of sections.
- In Section 25(4)(b), the preposition “of” is omitted between the words “award” and “degree.”
- Article 4(3) of the third schedule contains a typographical error where “one-third” is written as “on-third.”
These legal and typographical inconsistencies were cited as the primary reasons for the President’s decision to withhold assent. The bill had previously been passed by the National Assembly and forwarded to the President for approval.