Lagos State has drawn a firm line against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s approved 150 cut off mark for university admission, declaring that none of its state owned universities will accept candidates who scored below 185 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
The state’s Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Tolani Sule, made the position public on Wednesday during a ministerial press briefing at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, held to mark the third year of Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu’s second term in office.
Sule did not mince words in rejecting the federal body’s benchmark, describing it as incompatible with the academic standards Lagos institutions are committed to maintaining.
“To us in Lagos State, the cut off marks approved by JAMB look too low for our universities. None of our three universities is admitting any student who scored below 185 in the UTME,” Sule stated.
He argued that JAMB’s 150 mark, set against a total obtainable score of 400, was designed to accommodate candidates from educationally disadvantaged states across the six geopolitical zones, a category Lagos does not belong to.
“Lagos cannot be considered educationally disadvantaged to the extent of bringing its cut off mark down to meet what Sokoto or Zamfara State requires,” the commissioner added.
Sule also confirmed that JAMB had separately approved 100 as the cut off mark for polytechnics, a figure the state equally considers below its standards.
Beyond the cut off dispute, the commissioner outlined the state government’s broader agenda for tertiary education. He noted that Lagos had expanded its state owned universities from one to three under Governor Sanwo Olu’s administration and disclosed that plans were underway to establish a fourth institution to accommodate growing demand for higher education among residents.
“Increasing our universities from one to three is still part of what the state governor is doing to provide more educational platforms and opportunities for Lagos residents,” Sule noted. “And increasing the number to four is still part of this effort by the state government to allow all admission seekers to get tertiary education in Lagos.”
He also revealed that the state government, working with the Ministry of Health, was advancing legislation to establish a University of Medicine and Health Sciences aimed at boosting the training of medical professionals and reducing the emigration of healthcare workers from Nigeria.
Last Updated on May 14, 2026 by Ola Funmilayo
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