The Federal Government has officially established 16 years as the minimum age for admission into all tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
This announcement was made on Tuesday by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, while delivering the opening address at the 2025 Policy Meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Abuja.
Dr. Alausa made it clear that the directive is mandatory and must be strictly enforced by all institutions.
“The official age of 16 set by the government is not negotiable,” he stated firmly.
He further warned that no tertiary institution is allowed to admit candidates below the stipulated age, emphasizing that doing so would constitute a violation of national policy.
In addition, the Minister cautioned higher institutions against circumventing the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS), JAMB’s official and unified platform for managing tertiary admissions.
“Any admission conducted outside of CAPS would be illegal, and perpetrators would be prosecuted,”
Alausa warned.
He also stressed that institutional heads found guilty of engaging in age manipulation, admission fraud, or bypassing the CAPS platform would face legal consequences.
“Any head of institution found to be involved in admission fraud, age manipulation, or bypassing JAMB’s CAPS process would be held accountable under the law,”
he added.
