THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of four new private universities, thus bringing the total number of private universities in the country to 79.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said this on Wednesday while addressing State House correspondents after Wednesday’s FEC meeting.

Adamu said the four new universities have satisfied the criteria for establishing a university in Nigeria as provided by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

The newly approved universities are Greenfield University, Kaduna; Dominion University, Ibadan Oyo State; Trinity University, Ogun State and Westland University in Iwo, Osun State.

As it stands currently, Nigeria has a total of 164 universities, comprising 40 federal universities, 45 state-owned universities, and 79 private universities.

The requirements for establishing a private university in Nigeria can be found on the website of the NUC.