The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned public universities that have yet to begin their 2025 admission process that their candidates may be reassigned to other institutions if they fail to act quickly.
In a statement released on Friday, JAMB said the warning follows decisions made during the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions, held on 18 July and chaired by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.
According to JAMB, all public universities were expected to submit their first-choice admission recommendations for 2025 by 30 September, while private universities had until 31 October to do so.
The board added that the admission process for public universities would officially close on 31 October, for private universities on 30 November, and for polytechnics and colleges of education on 31 December.
“These timelines were designed to ensure a structured and predictable academic calendar across all institutions and to allow every tier of tertiary education to conduct its admission process seamlessly,” the statement read.
JAMB expressed concern that several public universities had failed to make any admission submissions to the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) — the official online platform for managing admissions.
“It is particularly concerning that certain public universities have not made any submissions, even after the September deadline had elapsed,” the board said.
Among the institutions cited were Northwest University in Kano, Nigeria Police Academy Wudil, University of Science and Technology Wudil, Benue State University Makurdi, and Abdulkadir Kure University.
Others included the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna, Emmanuel Alayande University of Education in Oyo, and the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences in Funtua.
JAMB urged all affected institutions to immediately commence their 2025 admissions to avoid sanctions.
“Failure to comply within the approved timelines will result in all unprocessed candidates being automatically moved to the next available tier of institutions,” the board warned.
The agency said the strict enforcement of timelines was part of efforts to restore order and predictability to Nigeria’s tertiary education calendar, which has often been disrupted by delayed admissions and prolonged academic sessions.