The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has screened 176 exceptional underage candidates who scored very high marks in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The screening, meant to assess talented students below 16 years old for possible university admission for the 2025/2026 academic session, was held in Abuja, Lagos, and Owerri.
According to Professor Taoheed Adedoja, Chairman of the Abuja screening centre and former Minister of Sports, the process included a written test, oral interviews, and face-to-face interactions with the candidates.
He said 22 candidates were screened in Abuja, and 176 nationwide, adding that JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, would decide when the results would be released.
Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, praised JAMB for giving gifted underage students a chance to prove their abilities.
He said it was necessary to test their maturity and readiness for university life, stressing that only those who perform well should be allowed to proceed.
Also, Hon. Oboku Oforji, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Examination Bodies, commended the students for their impressive performance, saying it showed the strength of Nigeria’s education system.
In Owerri, Professor Paulinus Okwelle, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), led the screening for the South-East and South-South zones.
He expressed satisfaction with the candidates’ conduct and confirmed that the process followed JAMB’s strict guidelines.
In Nigeria, the official minimum age for university admission is 16, though most students are 18 or older when they gain entry.
Out of over 41,000 underage applicants for the 2025 UTME, only 599 scored 80 percent and above. After further checks, just 176 met all requirements and were selected for final assessment.
The screening panel included representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC), Vice Chancellors, and the Gifted School that produced the brilliant underaged students