The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, initially directed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and Nigerian tertiary institutions not to admit candidates under 18 years old.
However, after facing objections and pleas from heads of tertiary institutions at the policy meeting on the 2024 admission process, the minister reversed his decision.
The minister agreed that candidates from the age of 16 be admitted for practical reasons, and the meeting approved it.
The JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, noted that enforcing the ban would not be fair to candidates who had already taken the UTME without anticipating the directive.
The minister acknowledged that the enrolment of underage candidates was damaging the university system and education in general, hence the need for enforcement of extant rules.
He stated that the ban would be set aside for 2024 admissions but would be enforced starting from 2025.