- Official age for admission into tertiary institutions is now 16
- Admission conducted outside of the Central Admission Processing System, CAPS, would be illegal, and perpetrators would be prosecuted.
- Heads of institutions found culpable of admission fraud or circumventing CAPS would be prosecuted.
The Federal Government has officially set the minimum age for admission into the nations tertiary institutions at 16.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, stated this on Tuesday, July 8, during the 2025 Policy Meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board held in Abuja.
declaring open the ongoing Policy Meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, in Abuja.
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Alausa, during the opening ceremony of the event, noted that the official age for admission into the nations tertiary institutions has now been pegged at 16 and is not negotiable.
He also warned that any admission conducted outside of the Central Admission Processing System, CAPS, would be illegal, and perpetrators would be prosecuted.
The minister further stated that heads of institutions found culpable of admission fraud or circumventing CAPS would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
Daily Report Nigeria Recall that the former Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, had directed JAMB and tertiary institutions to stop admitting under-18-year-old candidates into higher education programmes.
https://dailyreport.ng/asuu-set-to-begine-nationwide-strike/
However, on July 2024, Mamman made a u-turn on his earlier directive. During the review of the memorandum for the 2024 policy meeting on the year’s admissions, Mamman later called for the adoption of 16 years.
This decision was reached after objections and appeals from stakeholders, including rectors, registrars, vice chancellor and other principal officers, present at the 2024 admission policy meeting organised by JAMB, in Abuja on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Today, July 8, 2025, the current Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa pegged the official age of admission at 16.
