Senate counters FG, says minimum age requirement for varsity admission not yet a law

Adeyemi Adaramodu, the chairman of the senate committee on media and publicity, says the minimum age for university admission in Nigeria remains a matter to be legislated upon.

According to ThisDay, the senator, in an interview with a group of journalists, declared that nothing would be done on the minimum age requirement for admission into tertiary institutions until stakeholders in the education sector push for a bill.

Tahir Mamman, the minister of education, earlier stated that the minimum age for admission into Nigerian higher institutions is 18.

The minister spoke about the matter while assessing the conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Abuja.

Mamman had expressed concern that parents are pressuring their wards at ages 15 and 16 to gain admission into tertiary institutions.

He said admission should not be given to candidates below 18 since Nigeria operates the 6-3-3-4 education system.

But in a reaction interview, Adaramodu said comment on the minimum age requirement for admission would remain an opinion at best.

“By the time the senate resumes, whoever wants to bring that one out to make it a law will now bring it and then the procedures will take place. You can bring whatever to the floor in the form of a bill. There’s going to be a public hearing,” he was quoted as saying.

“All the stakeholders will sit down and talk about it. Parents, teachers, legislators, civil society organisations, and foreign organisations.

“We will sit down and we talk. Even if they say that the minimum age should be 30 or 12, we will all discuss it at an open forum. So it’s still a comment which cannot be taken to be the law.”

The senate spokesperson dismissed insinuations that the minister of education had instructed the leadership of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) not to release results of applicants below 18 years.

“There is nothing like that. When the prospective student bought their forms, there were no such conditions,” he added.

“So when you have bought your forms under one condition, that condition cannot be initiated along the line until the current set of candidates have been successfully attended to.

“When the next engagement is to take place, then if it is brought even as an executive bill or personal or private bill or the public brings it as a bill, the National Assembly will now sit down and then allow it to go to the crucible of lawmaking.

“This is a country, this is Nigeria. So all of us will sit down and deliberate. So far, it is just a mere comment. It is not law yet.”