JAMB to Penalize Underage Candidates in 2025 UTME – Oloyede

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that underage candidates registering for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will face strict penalties.

Speaking to journalists in Lagos on Friday while monitoring the ongoing UTME registration, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, revealed that 11,512 out of the 780,202 candidates registered so far were underage. He noted that while JAMB had previously allowed exceptionally brilliant candidates below 16 years to register, the privilege is now being widely abused.

“We will impose some penalties on them. It would have been better for them to wait for their time because they are only wasting their money,” Oloyede said.

Widespread Abuse of Underage Registration

Oloyede expressed concern over the rising number of underage applicants, stating that JAMB initially expected only 30 to 40 such cases. However, the current figure of over 11,500 indicates widespread misuse.

“Today alone, we registered 18,813 candidates, and 443 of them are underage. Many of these cases stem from parents enrolling their children too early in school or falsifying certificates to fast-track their education,” he explained.

No Extension for UTME Registration

The JAMB Registrar also ruled out any possibility of extending the registration period, emphasizing that the process has been running smoothly.

“There will be no extension because there is no need for one. Registration is progressing faster than expected. We had budgeted for 60,000 candidates per day, but since the third day, we have been registering between 80,000 and 100,000 daily. By Monday, which marks the second week, we expect to have exceeded one million registrations,” he stated.

Oloyede assured that JAMB remains committed to conducting a seamless registration process and ensuring only eligible candidates participate in the examination.