The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that a total of N2.42 billion has been disbursed to tertiary institutions across Nigeria through five editions of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance Merit Award (NATAP-M), which began in 2018.
For the latest edition of the awards, which combined the 2023 and 2024 cycles, JAMB allocated N710 million to six tertiary institutions. The announcement was made by the JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, during the 2025 policy meeting on admissions held in Abuja. He explained that the institutions were evaluated based on five specific criteria.
The NATAP-M award was established in 2018, following the introduction of the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) a year earlier. It is designed to reward institutions for their compliance with JAMB’s admission guidelines and to encourage healthy competition among them.
In the 2025 edition, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, emerged the top institution with 14 points and received N500 million. The University of Ilorin came second with nine points, earning N75 million, while Nile University of Nigeria, a private university based in Abuja, ranked third with six points and was awarded N25 million.
Professor Oloyede said the selection criteria included the number of candidates seeking admission into the institution, the geographical diversity of admitted students, and the total number of students admitted, which had to be at least 1,500. Other metrics included fair representation across catchment areas, especially for specialised military institutions, admission of foreign students, improvements in gender balance, and strict compliance with CAPS procedures.
The award scheme also covers other categories, recognising achievements among polytechnics, colleges of education, and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs). In this category, Kaduna Polytechnic was named the best-performing polytechnic with 10 points and received N50 million. The Federal College of Education, Zaria was awarded the best college of education with 18 points and also received N50 million. PEFTI Film Institute, Lagos, topped the IEI category with four points and received N10 million.
JAMB clarified that the cash prizes must be used by the winning institutions for specific developmental projects that align with their academic and operational mandates, particularly in the areas of teaching, assessment, sports, environmental improvement, and dissemination of knowledge. Institutions are required to submit project proposals equivalent in value to the award they received. Once implemented, these projects must display a visible acknowledgment of JAMB’s support, including its logo.
The NATAP-M award initiative, introduced under the leadership of Professor Oloyede, aims to reward institutions that adhere to admission policies and promote excellence. Since the first edition in 2019, the awards have recognised institutions across five categories: most-subscribed by applicants, most nationally representative in admission spread, highest number of international students, most improved female student intake, and highest compliance with guidelines.
In the first edition, institutions like the University of Ilorin, University of Maiduguri, Ahmadu Bello University, Rivers State University, and Kaduna Polytechnic shared a total prize of N125 million. Subsequent editions maintained significant financial rewards, with N500 million awarded in 2019 and again in 2022, and N710 million shared in the 2024 edition, where the University of Ilorin was the top recipient.
According to JAMB, internal assessments have shown that the NATAP-M awards have positively influenced institutional behavior, improving compliance with admission processes and encouraging competitive performance among Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
