The Delta State High Court sitting in Warri has summoned the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, to appear before it and show cause why he should not be committed to prison for alleged contempt of court.
This follows an application by legal practitioner and rights activist, John Aikpokpo-Martins, acting in the public interest on behalf of candidates born between September 1 and December 31, 2009, who wrote and passed the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) but were denied admission solely on the grounds of not meeting JAMB’s 16-year age requirement.
In Suit No. W/311/FHR/2024, Aikpokpo-Martins had secured a judgment from the Warri Division of the Delta State High Court on February 27, 2025, declaring that JAMB’s 16-year minimum age policy for admission into Nigerian universities is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The court further directed JAMB to immediately issue admission letters to all affected candidates who had otherwise met the requisite admission criteria and had already been accepted by the respective universities.
The universities listed as respondents alongside JAMB include Edwin Clark University, Delta State University, University of Delta, and Admiralty University.
Despite the court’s Judgment, Aikpokpo-Martins alleges that JAMB has willfully refused to comply, prompting the initiation of contempt proceedings through the issuance of Form 48 and Form 49 — legal instruments used to notify and summon individuals for contempt of court.
In a statement on Tuesday, Aikpokpo-Martins noted:
“JAMB has refused to obey the judgment of the court. The board has failed to issue letters of admission to the affected 2024 candidates. It even initially withheld their results and only released them after public pressure — with a caveat that those results would not be valid for admission this year. This is a direct affront to the authority of the court.”
He added that the contempt proceedings are a necessary step to uphold the integrity of the judiciary and to ensure that no government agency places itself above the law.
The hearing has been scheduled for June 27, 2025, at the Delta State High Court, Warri Judicial Division.
If the court finds Prof. Oloyede in contempt, he could face imprisonment or other sanctions for failing to comply with the court’s lawful directives.
Attached to the application are certified copies of Form 48 and Form 49, formally notifying the JAMB Registrar of the proceedings.
