The Federal Government has clarified that federal tertiary institutions must continue to obtain recruitment waivers before employing additional personnel, walking back public confusion generated by a recent presidential announcement.
​The clarification comes in response to widespread reports asserting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had completely scrapped the requirement for universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education to seek recruitment clearance before hiring.
​The controversy began on Saturday, October 17, 2026, during the maiden convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Azare (FUHSA) in Bauchi State. Speaking on behalf of President Tinubu, the presidential representative and Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, announced that federal universities had been relieved of the obligation to seek recruitment waivers from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF).
​According to Echono, the decision was captured in recent agreements signed with university staff unions aimed at granting greater administrative autonomy and accelerating hiring processes to address manpower shortages.
​However, in a follow-up statement issued on Monday, October 19, 2026, the Federal Government clarified the statutory guidelines governing employment across the tertiary education sector. The clarification underscored that while the administrative framework has been decentralised, the requirement for a recruitment waiver remains mandatory for any employment that exceeds an institution’s approved establishment figures.
​Under the refined protocol, governing councils and the Federal Ministry of Education oversee standard internal recruitment. However, whenever an institution needs to hire beyond its pre-approved staff quota, it must submit formal requests to an inter-ministerial waiver committee chaired by the Minister of Education, which includes representatives from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
​The government maintained that the waiver process serves as an essential public finance control mechanism, ensuring that new recruitments align with budgetary allocations and federal manpower planning, even as staff members are systematically migrated from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to customized payroll arrangements.
