The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has screened 176 underage candidates seeking admission into universities.
In August 2025, JAMB disclosed that it would begin screening for over 500 exceptional admission-seeking candidates under 16 years of age for the 2025/2026 academic session between September 22 and 26.
The exercise, it said, would be conducted by a special technical committee set up by JAMB.
The three-stage screening process was held in three centres across Owerri, Lagos, and Abuja on Wednesday.
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The 176 candidates are the those who scored high marks in the recently concluded 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Taoheed Adedoja, the chairman of JAMB Abuja centre, said the screening process began with a two-session examination before a subsequent face-to-face interview.
He revealed that 22 candidates participated in Abuja, while 38 were screened in Owerri.
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Adedoja added that Ishaq Oloyede, the JAMB registrar, will determine when the results of the screening would be released.
Also speaking, Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, chairman of the senate committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, commended JAMB for providing a platform for talented underage candidates to demonstrate their abilities.
He said the students can go to any university based on their ability to pass their examination.
The former minister said it is important that the underage candidates need the assessment because of the maturity of focus.
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He said it will help determine “best talent and pave the way for the development of this country”.
On his part, Oboku Oforji, chairman of the house of representatives on basic examination bodies, commended the students for their outstanding performance.
“It tells how we are doing in education as of today. And we are very proud of the agency-JAMB, and we want to encourage them to do more,” he said.
Paulinus Okwelle, the executive secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), also hailed the smooth process of the screening exercise.
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A total of 41,027 candidates applied under the category of exceptionally brilliant underage candidates for the 2025 UTME, but only 599 scored 80 percent and above.
Some of the applicants were disqualified for not meeting the O-Level and Post-UTME requirement.
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