The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has formally granted the DICON Institute of Technology provisional approval to operate as a tertiary institution in Nigeria. The approval, communicated in a letter dated 3 March 2026 to the Director General of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, was issued under the directive of the Honourable Minister of Education and signed on behalf of the Executive Secretary, Prof. Idris M. Bugaje.
The letter — reference TEB/NTIRD/PA/881/VOL.I/2 — is the foundational regulatory instrument that allows a new institution to operate. It is distinct from, and precedes, the programme-level accreditation that the Board awards to individual courses of study once a tertiary institution is up and running.
What the letter says
The communication, signed by Engr. S.M. Yusuf, Director of NBTE's National Technical and Industrial Research Department, instructs the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria to complete the digital registration of the institute on the NBTE portal. To enable the Board to generate the institute's login credentials, DIT must supply:
- Name of the institution as approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
- Full physical address of the institution
- Local Government Area (LGA)
- Name and phone number of the primary contact person
- Official institution email address
"I am directed to inform you that the Honorable Minister of Education has graciously granted provisional approval to your college to operate as a tertiary institution in Nigeria."
— Engr. S.M. Yusuf, Director NTIRD, for the Executive Secretary, NBTE
What this means for applicants
For applicants preparing for the 2026/27 admissions cycle, the provisional approval removes the principal regulatory hurdle that surrounds any greenfield institution: confirmation that the institute is recognised by the federal government as a place of higher learning. With that recognition now in hand, DIT is authorised to issue admissions letters, conduct matriculation, and route the institute through JAMB's central placement system.
Programme-level NBTE accreditation — the separate, course-by-course process that confers National Diploma and Higher National Diploma awarding rights — will follow on a rolling basis as each department completes its readiness review. The Board has scheduled the first such reviews to coincide with the end of the inaugural ND-1 session.
Next steps for the institute
Per the directive of the letter, the institute's administration is now completing the digital registration on the NBTE portal — supplying the five items requested in the body of the letter, beginning with the CAC-approved name. Once login credentials are issued, the institute will publish its full regulatory dossier on this website.
For media or partner-institution clarifications relating to the approval itself, NBTE has nominated two officers: Muhammad Bilyaminu Musa (09036071291) and Fatima Mamman (08036016578). All admissions and student-facing enquiries should continue to route through the DIT admissions office at admissions@diconit.edu.ng.