The Delta State High Court in Warri has issued an order restraining the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from enforcing its new minimum age policy, which sets 16 years as the lowest admissible age for university admissions in Nigeria. The restriction will remain in place pending the outcome of a motion filed against the board.

This action follows JAMB’s October 16 directive, which announced that candidates must turn 16 by August 2025 to be eligible for admission into tertiary institutions, as part of a broader policy update introduced by the Ministry of Education. The new policy also suggests 18 years as the ideal minimum age for admission.

In response, John Aikpokpo-Martins, a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Warri branch, challenged the directive in court. Representing candidates born between September 1 and December 31, 2009, who passed the 2024 JAMB exams, Aikpokpo-Martins named JAMB and Edwin Clark University as the 1st and 2nd respondents in the suit, marked W/311/FHR/2021.