FG Retains Ownership Of King’s College As Old Boys Take Over Operations

The Federal Government has actually relocated to eliminate issues surrounding the concession of King’s College, Lagos, firmly insisting that the 117-year-old organization has actually not been offered or privatised.

Under the Public-Private Partnership(PPP)plan, the King’s College Old Boys’Association(KCOBA) is to fund the rehab, modernisation and operation of the school, while the Federal Government maintains legal ownership and regulative control.

The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, made the information in a declaration provided by the Ministry of Education on Friday, following issues created by the concession contract.

Alausa worried that the plan does not move ownership of King’s College to KCOBA, keeping in mind that the Federal Government stays the legal owner of the organization and will continue to exercise its statutory obligations, consisting of policy, tracking, assessment and enforcement.

“Let me ensure Nigerians, especially the King’s College neighborhood, that this concession is not a sale of King’s College. Federal government has actually kept legal title to the organization and will continue to exercise its oversight obligations,” the minister stated.

According to him, KCOBA’s duty under the contract is to mobilise the funds and management capability needed to fix up, modernise and run the school in accordance with the regards to the concession.

He discussed that the contract was established within the recognized PPP structure and subjected to technical, financial, monetary, legal, ecological and social evaluations, along with value-for-money and fiscal-impact evaluations, before getting the essential regulative approvals and the approval of the Federal Executive Council.

The minister even more ensured stakeholders that the arrangement safeguards the general public character and nationwide identity of King’s College and does not develop any exclusive interest in favour of KCOBA.

Admissions into the organization will likewise continue under the appropriate policies governing Federal Unity Colleges, with benefit, openness, fairness and nationwide representation staying the assisting concepts.

Alausa stated the National Common Entrance Examination would stay main to admission into Junior Secondary School One (JSS1), resolving any tip that the concession would basically change the existing admission system.

He likewise clarified that the contract does not attend to an automated boost in school charges, although it does not enforce a long-term freeze on costs.
Under the concession, KCOBA will fund and execute substantial rehab and advancement jobs covering scholastic and administrative structures, hostels, personnel quarters, labs, libraries, dining and health care centers, energies, sporting centers, landscaping, drain and other ecological facilities.

The advancement program will likewise consist of the building and construction of extra class, labs and hostels, in addition to the arrangement of enhanced knowing resources and digital tools.

The Federal Government stated the plan is mainly targeted at taking on the longstanding facilities and functional obstacles challenging the 117-year-old school and guaranteeing its sustainability over the long term.

A Staff Transition and Protection Framework will likewise assist the shift, with procedures created to secure personnel well-being and guarantee that important services are preserved throughout the procedure.

The federal government stated work commitments, liabilities, defaults, pensions, gratuities and other personnel privileges occurring before the shift would stay its obligation unless specifically presumed by KCOBA under the arrangement.
KCOBA, nevertheless, will take duty for pertinent operating costs, consisting of incomes, advantages and allowances of workers engaged under the task.

Regardless of turning over considerable functional duties to the old kids’ association, the Federal Government will maintain significant oversight powers.

According to the Ministry, federal government will keep track of the concession through crucial efficiency indications, audits, examinations, reporting requirements and independent confirmation.
It will likewise keep restorative and step-in powers where major legal defaults take place.

The plan for that reason puts the funding, rehab and everyday functional requirements of the school mainly in the hands of KCOBA, while the Federal Government keeps ownership, regulative authority and supreme oversight of the organization.

Why the Concession?

The advancement comes versus the background of longstanding financing and facilities obstacles dealing with Nigeria’s Federal Unity Schools.
The Federal Government has in current years acknowledged problems emerging from hold-ups in the release of overhead and school-feeding funds, which have actually impacted the capability of some Unity Schools to fulfill their functional commitments.

In 2025, Alausa promoted reforms that would decentralise monetary approvals and offer more foreseeable quarterly releases to allow Unity Schools to prepare successfully and satisfy their responsibilities.

Throughout a conference with the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamsudeen Ogunjimi, the minister stated postponed releases had actually put some schools under extreme monetary pressure.

Alausa proposed that monetary deals listed below N500 million need to be authorized at the ministry level, while deals listed below N100 million might be processed by appropriate companies.

He likewise required quarterly releases to provide Unity Schools higher certainty in preparing their activities and handling their financial resources.

Ogunjimi acknowledged the financing obstacles and promised to prioritise releases to the Ministry of Education, especially those associating with Unity Schools, while asking for an official submission on the proposed termly dispensation plan.

The King’s College concession is for that reason existing by the Federal Government as an effort to bring private-sector funding and management capability into the rehab and operation of a historical nationwide organization, without giving up federal government ownership or its regulative obligation.