The ongoing 2026/2027 university admission exercise could leave thousands of candidates at a disadvantage if institutions continue processing admissions before results from all recognised O’Level examination bodies are available, the Owners of Private Schools Association of Nigeria (OPSAN) has warned.
The association is particularly concerned that candidates who wrote examinations conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO) and National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) could lose admission opportunities to students whose West African Examinations Council (WAEC) results are already available.
OPSAN therefore called on the Federal Government and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to halt the ongoing admission process until candidates have access to their relevant O’Level results.
The demand followed a stakeholders’ meeting held on Monday, September 21, and was contained in a statement signed by the association’s National President, Prof. Uzochukwu Solomon Nwanonyuo, and made available to journalists in Onitsha.
Nwanonyuo said the concern was particularly significant for students from technical colleges, Federal Science and Technical Colleges, vocational institutions and commercial schools, whose admission applications may depend on NECO or NABTEB results.
“Technical Colleges, Federal Science and Technical Colleges, Vocational and Commercial schools rely on NECO and NABTEB to secure admission into higher institutions. Continuing admissions without these results automatically shuts these students out,” he said.
According to OPSAN, some federal universities have already progressed with admission procedures, including for professional courses, even as candidates awaiting NECO and NABTEB results remain unable to present the required credentials.
The association argued that such a situation could effectively turn a delay by an examination body into an admission disadvantage for candidates who had no control over when their results would be released.
OPSAN consequently appealed to the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, to intervene and direct JAMB to suspend the admission exercise until the outstanding O’Level results are released.
It also called on the National Universities Commission (NUC) to direct universities to pause Post-UTME examinations and other admission-related processes until candidates from all recognised examination streams are able to participate on comparable terms.
The association said the issue went beyond individual admission cases, warning that continued admissions based predominantly on available WAEC results could raise questions about equal access to higher education.
OPSAN further urged WAEC to publish a comprehensive list of candidates who sat for the 2025/2026 internal examinations, saying such clarification would help establish the status of candidates affected by outstanding results.
It also called on NECO and NABTEB to expedite the processing and release of their results to prevent delays in the admission cycle from becoming a wider problem for prospective undergraduates.
The association maintained that the admission system should not disadvantage candidates simply because the recognised examination body through which they obtained their O’Level qualification had not released its results.
OPSAN also warned that prolonged disparities in result availability could undermine confidence among students, parents and schools in Nigeria’s examination and admission system.
It said an orderly admission process required all recognised examination bodies to be treated within the same framework, particularly where candidates’ eligibility depends on the presentation of their O’Level results.
The association therefore urged the education authorities, JAMB, NUC and the examination bodies to urgently coordinate the process, arguing that synchronising result release with admission timelines would help ensure that no qualified candidate is shut out of the 2026/2027 university admission exercise because of an administrative delay.
