The National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved three new universities established by Delta to begin full academic session.

Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, gave the approval when Governor Ifeanyi Okowa led top Delta officials to present strategic documents of the universities at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

Rasheed said the new universities would increase access to higher education.

The approved universities are: Delta State University, Agbor; Denis Osadebe University, Asaba and the Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro.

The development makes Delta the state with the highest number of universities with the oil-rich state owning four.

The state also has two federal Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko and Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, making total number of universities in the state six.