FG pegs admission age at 16

The federal government has officially set the minimum age for admission into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions at 16 years, declaring the policy as “non-negotiable.” The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the announcement in Abuja on Tuesday during the 2025 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). “This policy decision reflects a […]

The federal government has officially set the minimum age for admission into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions at 16 years, declaring the policy as “non-negotiable.”

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the announcement in Abuja on Tuesday during the 2025 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

“This policy decision reflects a balance between cognitive maturity and academic preparedness. 16 years is non-negotiable,” he said.

Alausa clarified that exceptions may apply in cases involving exceptionally gifted children with clearly documented academic acceleration, but such instances must be properly justified.

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He issued a stern warning to institutions attempting to circumvent the age rule by falsifying records, emphasizing that such infractions would attract sanctions.

The minister also unveiled new measures aimed at curbing examination malpractices, which he referred to as a “cancer” that undermines merit and erodes trust in Nigeria’s education system.

He announced the creation of a Central Examination Malpractice Unit within the Federal Ministry of Education, to be chaired by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Abel Enitan.

The new unit will act as a national clearinghouse for tracking and reporting malpractice cases across all levels of education.

“This central database will be accessible to all institutions.

It is our hope that this will reduce the tendency to engage in malpractices, as offenders will be appropriately tried under the Exam Malpractices Act,” the minister said.

He further confirmed the government’s support for examination bodies WAEC and NECO to adopt computer-based testing (CBT) as part of efforts to minimize malpractice and improve assessment integrity.

Daily Trust reports that there has been controversy over the age policy introduced by the Ministry of Education.

Last year, the Delta State High Court in Warri issued an order restraining JAMB from implementing its recent policy requiring a minimum admissible age of 16 years for university admissions in the country pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed against the board.

JAMB, in a statement on October 16, stated that only candidates who will be 16 years old by August 2025 would be admitted to tertiary institutions.

Similarly, some parents had kicked against the policy which they said would deny some brilliant students an opportunity of admission.

Experts demand support services, provision for genius

An educationist at University of Ilorin, Prof Lasiele Yahaya, backed the policy, saying age should no longer be a barrier to education.

He, however, called for support services like guidance and counselling, accommodation on campus and transportation to make their educational pursuit easy.

Former Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Dr Segun Aluko, called for a provision for gifted students who are below sixteen years.

The immediate past Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka commended the federal government for the minimum age, but raised concerns over the implementation.

However, the Registrar, Trinity University, Prof. David Olubusoye raised concerns over the 150-cutoff mark, saying it would not limit the admission quota of some universities.

The Vice chancellor, Achiever University, Prof Soji Aremu described the age limit as a good direction, saying it will avail students at that age to get engaged rather than waiting till 18 years before gaining admission.

“If you recall, the issue came out that by 2025 it will be 18 years but stakeholders protested. For me, age 16 is not too low for a child to get admission given so many developments that come up of the children,” he said.

An educator, Michael Omisore said the age limit would curb the excesses of having underaged students on campus.

“This will not prevent students of 16 and 17 years, who are ready for admission, from becoming undergraduates,” he said.

Govt declares admission outside CAPS illegal

The federal government also declared that any admission into tertiary institutions conducted outside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), will be deemed illegal.

Alausa, therefore, warned universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education across the country against illegal admission.

He said institutions and individuals involved in such practices would be prosecuted and severely sanctioned.

“Any admission conducted outside CAPS, regardless of its intentions, is illegal.

“Both institutions and the candidates involved in such practices will be held accountable.

“Sanctions may include withdrawal of institutional assets and prosecution of culpable officers or governing council members,” he said.

CAPS, introduced in 2017, automates the admission process to eliminate human interference and administrative bottlenecks.

Alausa, however, reiterated the government’s commitment to strengthen transparency, fairness, and accountability in the nation’s tertiary education system.

He explained that while the responsibility for initiating admissions rests with the academic boards of each institution, JAMB, as a statutory regulatory body, is mandated to oversee and regulate the process to ensure fairness and equity.

The Minister urged vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and governing councils to intensify oversight functions to prevent unauthorised practices.

He assured that the ministry would monitor compliance closely in collaboration with JAMB.

The minister also reaffirmed the policy mandating integration of the National Identification Number (NIN) into the JAMB registration process.

Speaking, the Chairman, Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, Sen. Shuaib Salisu, called for stricter sanctions against institutions and administrators who undermine Nigeria’s admission process.

Salisu proposed the criminalisation of fraudulent admission practices. He also warned institutions that exploit loopholes in the admissions system, allowing students to unknowingly pursue flawed admissions for years to desist from such practices.

JAMB announces best scorers

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the top scorers in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ish-aq Oloyede, stated that Okeke Chinedu Christian from Anambra State emerged as the highest scorer with 375 out of a maximum score of 400.

Oloyede added that the top scorer chose the University of Lagos as his first-choice institution, intending to study Mechanical Engineering.

He was closely followed by Ayuba Simon-Peter John from Gombe State, who scored 374.

Ayuba also selected Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) as his first choice, also to study Mechanical Engineering.

In the third position is Jimoh Abdulmalik Olayinka from Kwara State, who garnered 373 marks and chose the University of Lagos (UNILAG) as his first choice.

Olayinka also indicated Mechanical Engineering as his preferred course of study.

Similarly, the board awarded N710 million to six tertiary institutions during this year’s National Tertiary Admissions Performance Merit Award (NATAP-M).

Speaking on how the winners emerged, JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, said the board judged the institutions by five criteria.

He said this in Abuja on Tuesday at the 2025 policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions and 5th edition (2023 and 2024) of National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit Award (NATAP-M).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that every year since 2018, JAMB has awarded prizes to tertiary institutions for compliance with its admission processes.

For the 2025 tertiary institutions’s award, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria emerged the overall winner with 14 points and was awarded N500 million.

The University of Ilorin emerged the Runner Up with nine points and was awarded N75 million.

Nile University of Nigeria, a private university in Abuja, emerged the Second Runner-up with six points and N25 million.

The winners were presented with dummy cheques during the award ceremony.

Oloyede said the criteria for selection included the institution with the highest number of candidates seeking admission from it and one that admits candidates from every state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Other criteria, he said,  were the institutions that admitted not less than 1,500 candidates in total, and one with the fairest distribution of admitted candidates among its catchment states (all states in case of specialised military institutions).

The NATAP-M awards also has sectoral awards for Polytechnic, Colleges of Education and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEI).

Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna emerged the best polytechnic with an aggregate of 10 points and the Federal College of Education, Zaria the best College of Education, with an aggregate of 18 points, both receiving N50 million each.

 

From Peter Moses, Dotun Omisakin (Lagos), Hussein Yahaya & Dalhatu Liman(Abuja)