The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reiterated its stance on not admitting candidates below the age of 16 for the 2024/2025 academic session.
This decision aligns with the directive from the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, to enforce the age requirement for tertiary institutions, particularly universities.
At a press conference held at JAMB’s national headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, speaking on behalf of the registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, stated, “For the 2024 admission cycle, candidates who will be at least 16 years old at the time of admission will be considered eligible. This decision follows the directive from the Chairman of the 2024 tertiary admission policy meeting, who is also the Honourable Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN, that the extant policy of 6-3-3-4 be enforced only from the 2025 session.”
Benjamin also highlighted concerns over fraudulent age adjustments by candidates.
“The alarming avalanche of obviously false affidavits and upsurge of doctored upward age-adjustments on NIN slips being submitted to JAMB to upgrade recorded age is dangerous, inimical and unnecessary,” he remarked, emphasizing that only those aged 16 and above would be admitted this year.
Furthermore, Benjamin declared that JAMB will no longer condone illegal admissions through its “Condonement of Illegal Admissions without Registration number” window, which has been misused since its introduction in 2017.
He stated, “This window, which is used to absorb, for the candidates’ sake, illegal admissions that were conducted prior to 2017, has been on now for 7 years and it is now being abused.”
Benjamin warned against the collusion between some institutions and candidates to falsify admission details, “The Board’s position is informed by the discovery of widespread and unwholesome practice whereby some institutions were colluding with candidates to falsify vital details, such as, backdated year of entry and subsequent age-adjustments, to utilise certificates of genuine candidates with similar names to facilitate illegal admissions to enable participation of fake candidates in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.”
JAMB has set a deadline for institutions to disclose any illegally admitted candidates prior to 2017 within the next month.
“All institutions should now (or never) disclose all candidates illegally admitted prior to 2017 whose records are in their system within the next one month beginning from 1st August, 2024; and any admission purportedly given prior to 2017 will no longer be recognised or condoned unless disclosed within this one-month window,” Benjamin declared.
He also condemned the . of unapproved part-time programmes, particularly pointing out the Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic in Eruwa, Oyo State, for inviting candidates to apply for its two-year Daily Part Time (DPT) programme.
“It is crucial to clarify that no such programmes are approved by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) nor by the National Universities Commission (NUC). They are fraudulent devices to side-line quality, approved quota for full-time admission, falsify records and consequently, rake illegitimate income and derail the ambition and career of innocent (and some equally crooked) candidates,” he explained.
Benjamin warned candidates to avoid such unrecognized programmes and advised institutions to retract misleading .s or face severe sanctions.
“We urge all candidates to pursue education through legitimate and recognized educational pathways. Institutions with such ., particularly Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, are hereby directed to retract this misleading . immediately. Failure to comply will result in severe sanctions,” he warned.
JAMB’s stringent measures aim to uphold the integrity of Nigeria’s educational system and ensure compliance with established guidelines.