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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has cleared 85 underage candidates, less than 16 years of age by September 2025, for admissions into various tertiary institutions.
JAMB spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, in a statement, yesterday, explained that the cleared candidates were those who successfully completed the comprehensive screening process established by the board for exceptional admission.
He said the successful candidates had been duly notified to proceed to their respective institutions to complete the admission process and print their individual JAMB admission letters.
He maintained that the policy of exceptional admission is consistent with global best practices, where such cases are treated as rare exceptions rather than the norm.
He recalled that in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), out of the 2,031,133 applicants, 41,027 candidates sought consideration under the special category of which 599 candidates scored the 80 percent threshold in the UTME.
“The 599 candidates were subjected to further scrutiny of school certificate and post-UTME screening, which led to the emergence of 182 candidates (178+4). After due verification, interviews and screening, 85 candidates were found to have met the criteria and have consequently been cleared for admission.
“Meanwhile, any of the 182 finalist-candidates with valid reason to miss the final interview is advised to submit a formal request through the JAMB Support Ticketing System under the newly created category titled, ‘2025 Underage Complaint.’
“Such complaints will be reviewed individually and decisions will be made strictly on their own merit. This window is for only the 182 finalists who might, for one reason or the other, miss the final interview.
“In addition, candidates who scored 320 and above in UTME but failed to upload O-Level results and were subsequently disqualified from proceeding, are now given a chance to upload within two days; that is not later than tomorrow, October 29, 2025, and notify the Board of such through the ticketing,” he said.
The Board reiterated its commitment to ensuring that the admission process remains credible, transparent and inclusive, while also maintaining the integrity of academic standards across all tiers of tertiary education in Nigeria.
