The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has screened 176 exceptionally brilliant underage candidates who scored high marks in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as part of the process for granting them admission into universities.
Following the adoption of the 16-year minimum age limit at its last admission policy meeting, JAMB’s Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, assembled a team of experts to assess candidates below the age of 16 who scored 320 and above in the 2025 UTME. The screening exercise, aimed at ensuring that only academically sound and mature candidates are considered for admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session, was simultaneously conducted in Abuja, Owerri, and Lagos.
Chairman of the Abuja Centre, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, expressed satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the exercise, explaining that candidates first sat for a written test before proceeding to face-to-face interviews. He revealed that 22 candidates participated in Abuja, while 176 were screened nationwide, adding that the JAMB Registrar would announce the results at a later date.
Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, commended JAMB for creating a platform for gifted underage candidates to showcase their academic abilities. He noted that assessing the candidates’ maturity and readiness was crucial to ensuring only capable students gain early university admission.
According to him, “Allowing underage candidates to prove their abilities is commendable, but it’s important to ensure that only those mature enough to handle university education are selected. This will contribute significantly to the nation’s development.”
Dandutse also reaffirmed the National Assembly’s support for President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms, while praising JAMB’s transparency and consistency in examination management.
Similarly, Hon. Oboku Oforji, Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Examination Bodies, lauded both JAMB and the students for their outstanding performance, describing it as proof of Nigeria’s growing educational competitiveness across Africa.
At the Owerri Centre, 38 out of 43 shortlisted underage candidates participated in the exercise. The centre’s Chairman and Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Prof. Paulinus Okwelle, commended the participants’ discipline and assured that the screening followed all official guidelines.
The under-16 candidates screened in Owerri were drawn from the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones.
Out of 41,027 underage applicants for the 2025 UTME, only 599 scored 80 per cent and above, while some were later disqualified for not meeting the same benchmark in their O-Level or Post-UTME results, leaving 176 eligible for the final screening.
The screening panel included representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC), vice-chancellors, and the Gifted School, among others.
