JAMB Screens 176 Brilliant Underage Candidates for 2025 UTME Admission

Janet Samuel

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has screened 176 exceptional underage candidates who scored high marks in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The special exercise, conducted simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos, and Owerri, was aimed at assessing brilliant candidates below the age of 16 for possible admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session.

Chairman of the Abuja Centre, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, said the screening involved a written examination and face-to-face interviews to test the candidates’ readiness for university education.

Adedoja confirmed that 22 candidates were screened in Abuja, with a total of 176 across the country, adding that the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, would announce the release of the results later.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, who monitored the exercise in Abuja, commended JAMB for giving exceptional young students a chance to prove their ability.

He stressed the need to assess the maturity of underage candidates before admitting them into higher institutions, noting that brilliance must be matched with emotional readiness.

Similarly, Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Examination Bodies, Hon. Oboku Oforji, described the performance of the candidates as a reflection of Nigeria’s improving competitiveness in education.

At the Owerri Centre, 38 out of 43 shortlisted candidates took part in the exercise, which was supervised by the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Prof. Paulinus Okwelle, who praised the orderly conduct.

Officially, the minimum age for university admission in Nigeria is 16, but JAMB occasionally screens exceptionally gifted underage candidates who meet strict academic standards.

Out of 41,027 applicants under the underage category for the 2025 UTME, only 176 met all required benchmarks and were shortlisted for the final screening.