Court declares Post UTME illegal

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has declared Post-UTME conducted by higher institutions in Nigeria illegal.

The court said that there is no law that authorises Universities, Polytechnic, Monotechnics and College of Education in Nigeria to conduct Post UTME.

The Court also ruled that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB is the only body recognised by law to conduct matriculation examinations and offer admissions into tertiary institutions by virtue of section 5 (1) (2) of the JAMB Act.

In the judgment, delivered in the suit filed by the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) against JAMB, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu and the National Universities Commission (NUC), Justice John Tsoho held that the defendants have no power to allow or direct tertiary institutions to conduct further screening of candidates after they had taken the UTME.

The court also issued an injunction that restrains all tertiary institutions in the country from conducting the Post-UTME or any other form of admission screening tests.

Recall that on Thursday, June 2, 2016, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu announced that the Federal Government had stopped higher institutions from conducting POST-UTME saying he had confidence in JAMB’s ability to hold exams.