ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government has dismissed public speculation suggesting that King’s College, Lagos, has been sold or privatised, clarifying that the 117-year-old premier unity secondary school remains a publicly owned national institution with its statutory title firmly retained by the state, the Federal Ministry of Education announced in Abuja on Friday, September 11, 2026.
The clarification follows growing public anxiety, student concerns, and alumni inquiries trailing the formalisation of a long-term Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concession agreement between the Federal Government and the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) to modernize the school’s facilities.
Okay News reports that in an official statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Boriowo Folasade, the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, explained that the contractual arrangement is an infrastructure regeneration concession rather than an outright divestment of national assets.
Dr. Alausa emphasized that under the structured terms of the concession, the alumni body assumes full fiduciary responsibility for financing, restoring, operating, and maintaining the institution, while the federal authorities retain statutory ownership, standard regulatory functions, and uncompromised inspection and enforcement powers.
“Let me assure Nigerians, particularly the King’s College community, that this concession is not a sale of King’s College,” Dr. Alausa stated. “Government has retained legal title to the institution and will continue to exercise its oversight responsibilities. The purpose of the arrangement is to mobilise the investment and management capacity required to strengthen this important national institution.”
The minister explained that the framework underwent rigorous statutory procedures prior to securing the formal approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), having passed comprehensive technical, economic, legal, environmental, and value-for-money assessments under established national PPP guidelines.
He noted that the agreement explicitly preserves the school’s public character and national heritage status, prohibiting the transfer of proprietary equity to the alumni association while ruling out any automatic escalation of school fees or the imposition of a permanent fee freeze.
Addressing admission guidelines, Dr. Alausa affirmed that student enrollment will strictly reflect Federal Unity College policies rooted in merit, equity, and national spread across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) remaining the central assessment benchmark for Junior Secondary School One (JSS1) admissions.
Under the physical development blueprint, KCOBA is mandated to finance and execute extensive structural restorations across administrative complexes, classrooms, boarding hostels, staff quarters, laboratories, libraries, catering halls, healthcare centres, and recreational spaces, alongside supplying modern digital learning resources.
“King’s College is an institution with a remarkable history, but preserving that history requires us to invest in its future. The concession provides a framework for sustained infrastructure renewal, improved learning facilities and stronger operational capacity,” the minister noted.
On human capital and teaching welfare, Dr. Alausa announced the establishment of a formal Staff Transition and Protection Framework to guarantee job continuity and safeguard staff benefits, clarifying that historical pension liabilities and gratuity arrears accrued prior to the concession remain the obligation of the Federal Government.
Following the transition, the alumni association will fund operational overheads, including the compensation and benefits of academic and non-teaching personnel engaged under the project in accordance with domestic labor statutes.
The minister reiterated that rather than seeking a monetary concession windfall, the agreement binds the concessionaire to strict Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), structural asset audits, and independent quality verifications, with the Federal Government reserving unilateral step-in powers to terminate or correct the arrangement in the event of persistent contractual default or asset degradation.
