The Senate on Tuesday advised Senator Danladi to withdraw a bill seeking to relocate a Federal Polytechnic to Nasarawa Eggon in Nasarawa State, urging him instead to sponsor fresh legislation to establish a new institution in the area.
Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, gave the advice on Tuesday during plenary while presiding over the second reading of the Federal Polytechnics Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 1065), sponsored by Danladi.
The senator sought to relocate the institution to Nasarawa North Senatorial District, arguing that upgrading the Federal Polytechnic in Nasarawa West to a university left his constituency without a federal institution of higher learning.
Presenting the bill, Danladi said, “The Federal Polytechnic in Nasarawa West Senatorial District has been upgraded to a university status, and my bill is to urge this hallowed Chamber to relocate the upgraded polytechnic to Nasarawa Eggon in Nasarawa North Senatorial District of Nasarawa State.”
He added, “We in Nasarawa North Senatorial District do not have any federal institution.”
However, Akpabio argued that the bill, as presented, could create complications because the institution being targeted for relocation had already been upgraded to a university.
He warned that moving it under the proposed amendment could effectively mean relocating the university, potentially provoking opposition from the community hosting it.
“Your bill cannot go for second reading because you are talking about relocation. If you relocate it, it has already been upgraded to university status, so if you relocate it, you are relocating the university and the whole community will not be happy,” the Senate President said.
Akpabio advised Danladi to let the upgraded institution remain at its present location and sponsor a new bill to establish a Federal Polytechnic in Nasarawa Eggon.
“What you need to do is to, in view of the fact that the existing Federal Polytechnic has been upgraded, leave it where it is, then bring a fresh Bill for a Federal Polytechnic to be created in Nasarawa Eggon,” Akpabio said.
He expressed confidence that the proposal would receive the Senate’s and President Bola Tinubu’s backing if pursued through the appropriate legislative process.
“Then the Senate will support you, and I believe the President will support you, because that is like replacing the old Federal Polytechnic, because that one no longer exists. It has been upgraded,” he added.
To illustrate his argument, the Senate President compared the situation to the upgrading of a primary school to a secondary school, saying the former could no longer be treated as a separate institution that could be relocated.
“It’s like having a primary school, and they upgrade it to secondary school. If you have a primary school in your village and then you request that the Federal Government upgrades the primary school to a secondary school.
“It means that the primary school no longer exists. You cannot request that the whole primary school should be taken to another location,” he said.
Danladi accepted the advice and thanked Akpabio for the clarification.
“I think that should be the best way. Your Excellency, I am most obliged for this guidance,” the senator said.
The bill was subsequently stepped down to allow the sponsor to prepare a fresh proposal to establish a Federal Polytechnic in Nasarawa Eggon.
If approved, the proposed institution would expand access to technical and vocational education in Nasarawa North, which Danladi said lacked a federal institution of higher learning.