The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Wednesday conducted a nationwide screening of 176 exceptional underage candidates who excelled in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The exercise, aimed at identifying outstanding candidates below 16 years for possible admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session, was carried out simultaneously at centres in Abuja, Owerri, and Lagos by a panel of experts assembled by JAMB.
Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, Chairman of the Abuja Centre for under-16 candidate screening, expressed satisfaction with the smooth process. He explained that candidates first took a written exam followed by face-to-face interviews. “They did the first paper which lasted about 20 minutes, then proceeded to subsequent sessions before the face-to-face interaction,” he said.
Adedoja confirmed that 22 candidates were screened in Abuja, with 176 screened nationwide. The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, will announce the screening results in due course.
Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, praised JAMB for providing a platform that allows talented underage candidates to prove their readiness for university education. He emphasized the importance of assessing maturity and readiness to ensure successful academic performance.
“It is crucial to assess underage candidates to ensure they can cope with university demands. This exercise helps select the best talents and supports national development,” Dandutse said. He also reaffirmed the National Assembly’s support for President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms and commended JAMB’s transparency and consistency.
Hon. Oboku Oforji, Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Examination Bodies, who monitored the exercise in Abuja, lauded the candidates’ performance as a testament to Nigeria’s educational competitiveness in Africa. “The exceptional performance of these underage students reflects the progress we are making in education,” he said.
At the Owerri Centre, where 38 out of 43 shortlisted candidates participated, Prof. Paulinus Okwelle, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), expressed satisfaction with the orderly conduct. The Owerri candidates were drawn from the South-South and South-East zones.
Out of 41,027 applicants under the exceptional underage category for the 2025 UTME, only 599 scored 80 percent and above. Following further verification of O-Level and Post-UTME results, 176 candidates qualified 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.
