In this report, BusinessDay Investigations exposes how the Federal School of Statistics (FSS), Ibadan, Oyo State, violated multiple National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) regulations through admission of hundreds of students for uncaccredited ptrogrammes. YOUSUPH ADEBAYO writes.
When Kunle Olayode received his admission letter from the Federal School of Statistics, Ibadan, in 2021, it felt like the first real step toward the future he had carefully imagined. At 25, he believed a Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and Management would open doors beyond Nigeria.
He planned to continue his studies abroad, earn a postgraduate diploma and an MBA in the United States. For two years, he attended lectures, sat for examinations, and graduated with a first-class result, confident that his effort had secured him a path forward.
His dream collapsed when foreign universities began rejecting his applications. The schools told him his transcript could not be verified.
Confused and alarmed, Olayode returned to the institution that had issued the certificate, thinking it was an administrative error, but was shocked when he found out that the school had no accreditation for the course he studied.
“At first, I thought it was a joke. I would never have imagined that a Federal school would grant admission for a course it was not accredited to offer.
“Accreditation was never discussed in practical terms when I was a student. I assumed that accreditation applied to the institution as a whole, not individual programmes.”
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Olayode’s plans for further education are now stalled. He could not proceed abroad, could not be mobilised for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and could not compete for jobs that required verified credentials.
“The school keeps telling us they are working on the accreditation process. I graduated in 2023, and as of 2026, I still don’t know what to do because I am unable to proceed with further education. I also cannot participate in NYSC or seek employment properly.
“This accreditation issue completely upended my plans. I had no choice but to find something to do while waiting for the school to either secure the accreditation or mobilise me for NYSC.”
Today, Olayode works as a waiter in a lounge in Abuja while waiting for an accreditation process that has dragged on for years.
Different course, same accreditation hurdle
Kunle’s ordeal is mirrored in the experience of Fatima Bashir, whose path through the same institution followed a different route but ended at the same deadlock. While Kunle’s ambitions were stalled at the point of further education, Fatima’s progress was cut short in the workplace.
Bashir completed a National Diploma in Computer Science at the FSS, Ibadan, in 2019 and quickly got an internship in the tech support unit of a law firm in Ibadan, where her responsibilities grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic as operations shifted online. By the time her internship ended, the firm retained her as a full-time employee.
In 2021, her employer encouraged her to obtain an HND, explaining that salary progression was tied to academic qualification.
Bashir returned to the school, enrolling for an HND in Computer Science while continuing to work full-time.
For two years, she paid her fees, attended classes, and sat for examinations, financing her education largely from her salary and, at some point, through a bank loan.
When it was time for promotion, her documents were reviewed for a salary upgrade, and the firm’s human resources department raised questions about the validity of her HND.
Seeking clarity, Bashir returned to the school, only to receive the same response given to Kunle that the programme’s accreditation was still in progress.
More than two years after completing the programme, Bashir remains on the same pay scale as an ND holder. She cannot leverage the qualification she earned to negotiate better pay or seek improved opportunities elsewhere.
“It was frustrating. I had high hopes of a salary review, which was why I endured the HND programme in the first place. Now I am stuck. I can’t leave my job, yet the chances of getting a better one with just an ND and HND certificate, which I can’t even validate, are equally discouraging,” she laments.
The experiences of Olayode and Bashir are not isolated cases. Hundreds of students who studied unaccredited courses at the FSS, Ibadan, are faced with similar hurdles.
NBTE looks away as illegality persists
Findings by BusinessDay Investigations show that the FSS, Ibadan, repeatedly admitted, trained, examined, and awarded diplomas to students across multiple departments and academic sessions without securing accreditation for the programmes involved.
Established in 1948 as a training unit of the former Federal Office of Statistics, the institution became a full-fledged school in 1971, initially offering diploma programmes in Statistics. Over the years, it expanded its academic offerings, introducing ND programmes in Computer Science and Business Administration in 2014, adding Accounting, and eventually rolling out HND programmes across all four courses during the 2018/2019 academic session.
However, findings by BusinessDay Investigations reveal that these expansions, particularly the introduction and sustained running of the HND programmes, were carried out in violation of NBTE guidelines, which require full accreditation before students are admitted.
In Nigeria, the authority to approve, supervise and accredit all ND and HND programmes rests with the NBTE, a federal agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education.
Established by law, the Board regulates monotechnics, polytechnics, colleges of technology and other technical institutions, and its approvals determine whether a qualification is recognised for employment, further education or participation in the National Youth Service Corps.
Under NBTE’s guidelines and procedures for the establishment and accreditation of Technical Programmes, accreditation is not automatic and does not apply broadly to an institution as a whole. Instead, it is programme-specific. Each ND or HND course must separately pass through a defined approval process before students can legally be admitted.
The NBTE guidelines showed that before any student is admitted for a course, the institution is required to obtain what NBTE calls “approval to commence”. This initial approval confirms that the school has the minimum required facilities, qualified teaching staff, curriculum structure and administrative capacity to run the course. Only after this approval is granted in writing is an institution legally permitted to advertise the programme, offer admission or collect fees from prospective students.
Full accreditation comes later, usually when the first set of students is approaching graduation.
At that stage, NBTE conducts a more comprehensive assessment of the programme, including inspections of classrooms, laboratories, libraries, staffing levels and learning outcomes. Until this second stage is completed successfully, the programme remains provisional.
Also, the guidelines make clear that institutions are prohibited from awarding ND or HND certificates for any programme that has not passed through these stages.
Against this regulatory backdrop, clearly outlined on NBTE’s official website, the practices uncovered at the Federal School of Statistics, Ibadan, tell a different story.
Over 1,500 illegally admitted
Findings by BusinessDay Investigations reveal that FSS, Ibadan, had admitted at least 1,500 students between 2019 and 2025, without securing NBTE’s approval to commence those courses.
Documents reviewed by BusinessDay indicate that programmes in Accounting, Business Administration and Management, Computer Science, and even the HND in Statistics were introduced and run as far back as the 2018/2019 academic session without formal accreditation.
A senior official familiar with the school’s admission process said that the first set of HND graduates in Statistics numbered about 75, while the Business Administration and Management department had over 200 graduates in its first cohort.
Across all four departments, the first set of graduates totalled more than 400, and the official estimated that the total number of HND graduates so far exceeds 1,500.
This practice contravenes Section 2, Subsection 8.3 of the NBTE Guidelines and Procedures, which states that “the decision of the Board on whether or not a new programme may be mounted by an institution shall be conveyed to the institution in writing. An institution shall advertise for and admit students into a programme only after it has obtained the Board’s approval to do so.”
Despite this, the FSS, Ibadan, launched its HND programmes during the 2018/2019 academic session. Documents obtained by BusinessDay Investigations show that the Board did not approve the commencement of its HND programmes in Statistics and Business Administration and Management, or its ND programme in Accountancy, until August 2024, six years after the programmes had begun.
By the time the programmes were approved in 2024, our correspondent gathered that the institution had already admitted and graduated hundreds of students, most of whom could not use their credentials because the programmes lacked accreditation.
NBTE letter granting approval for commencement of some programmes in 2024
In an approval letter obtained by BusinessDay Investigations and signed by Sama’ila Tanko, the Director of Monotechnic Programmes at NBTE, it notes that the programmes will undergo full accreditation when the first set of students reach their final semester.
This means that only students admitted from 2024 onwards will hold valid certificates upon graduation in 2026.
Under NBTE’s rules, approvals granted in 2024 cannot validate admissions made years earlier. Those who studied before then, including Olayode and Bashir, are left in legal and career uncertainty because the institution ignored the rules meant to govern it.
Although some of the school’s programmes were eventually approved by NBTE in 2024, BusinessDay Investigations found that the Board explicitly denied approval for the HND programme in Computer Science at FSS, Ibadan, in 2024, and the programme has still not been approved.
The rejection letter, signed by NBTE’s Director of Monotechnic Programmes, and obtained by our correspondent, stated that the school failed to meet the eligibility
NBTE letter denying approval for commencement of HND in Computer Science programme criteria and emphasised that it must not commence the programme until formal approval is granted.
Despite this, the institution has been running the programme since 2018 and continues to admit students.
Federal School of Statistics 2025/2026 payment schedule issued to students including for unaccredited HND in Computer Science programme
Making millions from illegal admissions
Beyond the personal setbacks suffered by graduates like Olayode and Bashir, FSS, Ibadan, made several millions of naira from students through illegal admissions.
BusinessDay Investigations found that over the course of six years, the institution generated hundreds of millions of naira in revenue from tuition, acceptance fees, departmental levies, and other mandatory charges.
A review of admission records, departmental lists, and fee schedules shows that more than 1,500 students were admitted into unaccredited programmes between 2018 and 2024. Each admission involved multiple compulsory payments.
For ND Accounting students, these included application charges, acceptance fees, annual tuition, and departmental levies across two academic years.
Based on student testimonies and school documents, each ND Accounting student paid between N180,000 and N250,000.
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The financial implication was even larger for the HND programmes. HND students, paying higher tuition, acceptance fees, departmental charges, and development levies, were reported to spend between N300,000 and N400,000 each over the course of the programme.
BusinessDay Investigations found that over 1,000 students were admitted into HND programmes between 2018 and 2024, generating between N300 million and N400 million in revenue for the institution.
Altogether, admissions into unapproved ND and HND programmes at the FSS, Ibadan, brought in an estimated N390 million to N525 million over six years.
This estimate does not include additional expenses students had to bear, such as accommodation, transportation, course materials, handouts, and repeated transcript verification fees, all of which added significantly to the financial burden on their families.
Unlawful routes for NYSC mobilisation
For many graduates, the consequences became painfully real when they tried to take part in the compulsory NYSC.
By law, participation in NYSC requires a degree or HND from an accredited institution and programme, a requirement that FSS, Ibadan, has systematically failed to meet for hundreds of its students who have graduated since 2020.
As of 2024, BusinessDay Investigations gathered that over 200 students had completed their programmes but remained ineligible for mobilisation, creating both personal and professional deadlocks.
Faced with mounting pressure, our correspondent gathered that instead of waiting for NBTE approval to validate past graduates, FSS, Ibadan, partnered with a few private polytechnics, including Igbajo Polytechnic in Osun State and Temple Gate Polytechnic in Abia State, to issue alternative credentials.
Under this arrangement, findings by BusinessDay Investigations reveal that these graduates were required to pay an additional mobilisation fee, and in return, received a second statement of results from the private polytechnic.
Documents obtained and reviewed by this paper showed that one student was issued results from FSS, Ibadan, where he actually studied, as well as from Igbajo Polytechnic, Osun State, a private institution where he never studied.
One affected graduate says, “I am currently serving after graduating in 2024. They asked us to pay N6,500 as a mobilisation fee. We were issued a statement of results from FSS and another from Igbajo Poly. The school told us to present one from Igbajo Poly at the NYSC camp.
So now, in my credentials, I have to claim I studied at a school I never attended.”
BusinessDay Investigations found that of the 90 students who graduated from the unaccredited Accounting department of the FSS, Ibadan, in 2024, only four were able to be mobilised through the arrangement with the private polytechnics.
Certificate obsession fueling the rise of unaccredited programmes
Education analysts attribute the widespread admission of students into unaccredited programmes by tertiary institutions to the socio-cultural fixation on obtaining paper qualifications at any cost.
Speaking with BusinessDay Investigations, Mojeed Alabi, chairman of the Education Writers Association of Nigeria, says this fixation drives students into desperation for admission, causing them to neglect due diligence, particularly in verifying the accreditation status of the courses offered by the institutions they are seeking admission into.
“The culture of ‘I just want to go to school’ is the major problem we have in Nigeria. About 1.9 million to 2.1 million admission seekers sit for the UTME every year. At the end of the day, only 700,000 to 800,000 of them get admission.
That margin is why people now want to gain admission into any institution at all costs because of our overwhelming reliance on certificates. Even when they have the skills, they believe that obtaining a certificate is the ultimate. So, they don’t bother whether the programme they are admitted to is accredited or not, and the certificate they get at the end of it is genuine or counterfeit,” he notes.
He describes the situation as a systemic failure, with responsibility shared among students, their parents, institutions offering unaccredited courses, regulatory agencies, and the Ministry of Education.
He adds, “While we can fault the regulatory body for not doing enough, we have to understand that their resources are spread thin. Their manpower is limited. There is also corruption in the system. So, parents have to be more involved in the admission process of their children. The students themselves need to ask questions and not fold their arms.”
Expert suggests a way out
Also speaking, Dr Emmanuel Dalung, an education consultant with the Federal Education Quality Assurance Service, reveals that the NBTE guidelines need to be revamped to prevent institutions from launching programmes without full accreditation.
He notes that many institutions have turned this practice into a cash cow, starting programmes and seeking accreditation years later, thereby jeopardising the prospects of students who enrolled before the courses were approved.
“Even if the school does get accreditation for these programmes later, it doesn’t change anything for the students who were admitted before then. That accreditation only covers students admitted afterwards.
“These schools know this, yet they admit students for years. That is because of the revenue they are generating from the students. All the money, time and effort invested by these students amount to nothing. This is not about one institution. You’ll find these problems across the board, even in universities. This should not only be unethical. It should be criminal,” he stressed.
He further notes that regulatory bodies in the education sector need to enforce stricter sanctions on institutions found to be violating regulatory guidelines.
“They should be compelled to refund the students they admitted into unaccredited courses. Nothing can make up for the time and effort these students had invested into studying these courses, but at least it will make these schools more cautious if they know that there are grave repercussions for swindling unsuspecting students,” he concludes.
Temple Gate Registrar denies involvement
When contacted, the Registrar of Temple Gate Polytechnic, Mrs Chinedu Ibisi, denied knowledge of the school’s involvement in the unlawful NYSC mobilisation arrangement.
Ibisi stresses that she is unaware of any affiliation with FSS.
We’re in partnership – Igbajo Poly
Meanwhile, the Secretary to the Registrar of Igbajo Polytechnic, Mr Saheed Amuzat, told BusinessDay Investigations that the institution had what he described as a ‘partnership’ with FSS, Ibadan, but he declined to provide further details.
“We have partnered with the school for some years now, in which we run some programmes that the school (FSS) is not accredited for. They send us students for programmes like the Business Administration, Statistics, Computer Science and Accounting with the partnership we have”, he admitted.
When probed further on the issuance of statements of results by Igbajo Polytechnic to FSS students, Amuzat declined to comment, stating that the Director of Distance Learning, Dr Adebayo Oyedepo, would be in a better position to provide official clarification.
When contacted, Oyedepo agreed to speak with our correspondent, but did not respond to questions.
FSS denies wrongdoing
When contacted with evidence of operating unaccredited courses, FSS, Ibadan, denied committing any violation of NBTE’s guidelines.
The Rector, Mrs Mercy Olugu, said the findings of this investigation were untrue and unfounded.
While insisting that the institution only operates NBTE-accredited courses, Olugu invited our correspondent to visit the school in person for further clarification.
“What you have is not true. There is no unaccredited course here, but you need to come and confirm it yourself. I cannot tell you whether it is true or not; if I do, it won’t be enough evidence for your report. To do a thorough job, you must go to the source and get the information,” she notes.
Probed further on the unlawful NYSC mobilisation arrangement, Olugu dropped the call.
Further attempts to reach her failed as repeated calls to her went unanswered.
NBTE denies knowledge of unaccredited programmes, promises sanction
The National Board for Technical Education has denied knowledge of FSS, Ibadan, offering unaccredited programmes.
In a letter responding to findings by BusinessDay Investigations, signed by Bilikisu Dako, NBTE’s Director of the Inspectorate Department, the board said it was unaware that the institution had been running HND programmes in Computer Science and Accounting without approval for years.
“The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) was not aware that the Federal School of Statistics, Ibadan, has been offering HND in Computer Science and Accounting programmes that were not approved for the past five (5) years,” the statement read in part.
The board explained that it granted approval to FSS, Ibadan, in 2016 to commence National Diploma programmes in Computer Science, Statistics, and Business Administration and Management. It also noted that additional approvals covering National Diploma in Accounting and Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and Management, and Statistics were only granted in 2024.
The Board also noted that it never granted approval for the HND programmes in Accounting and Computer Science.
NBTE stated that the institution’s act contravenes its regulatory guidelines and assured that appropriate sanctions would be imposed.
