Nigerian Court Orders UNILAG, OAU to Suspend 2025/2026 Admissions in Landmark Ruling
LAGOS – In a dramatic legal development that could affect hundreds of thousands of prospective students, a Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) to immediately suspend all admission processes for the 2025/2026 academic session. The interim injunction, granted by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, comes in response to a lawsuit challenging the admission quotas and federal character principles in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
The ruling has thrown the nation’s higher education sector into uncertainty just as universities were preparing to begin their annual admission exercises. Both UNILAG and OAU rank among Nigeria’s most sought-after federal universities, typically receiving hundreds of thousands of applications for limited available spaces each year. The court’s decision effectively freezes all admission-related activities, including post-UTME screening, admission list publication, and registration processes for new students.
The Legal Challenge and Court Order
The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of civil society organizations and education rights advocates who argue that the current admission system violates constitutional provisions on federal character and equal access to education. The plaintiffs contend that certain states receive disproportionately high admission quotas at the expense of other regions, creating an imbalance in educational opportunities across Nigeria’s diverse geopolitical zones.
“The court has granted an interim injunction restraining the University of Lagos and Obafemi Awolowo University from proceeding with any admission-related activities for the 2025/2026 academic session pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit,” Justice Banjoko stated in her ruling. “This order is necessary to preserve the subject matter of the litigation and prevent a situation of completed admission exercises that would render the case academic.”
The case touches on longstanding debates about the distribution of educational resources in Africa’s most populous nation. Nigeria’s Federal Character Principle, enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, aims to ensure that appointments and allocations reflect the country’s diversity. However, critics argue that this principle has been unevenly applied in university admissions, particularly in elite institutions like UNILAG and OAU.
The court has scheduled a hearing for the substantive case in the coming weeks, setting the stage for a potentially landmark decision on education equity in Nigeria. The outcome could force a comprehensive overhaul of admission policies across all federal universities. For continuous updates on this developing story and its implications for Nigerian education, African News Desk’s Nigeria news section provides comprehensive coverage and analysis.
Implications for Prospective Students and Academic Calendar
The court order has created immediate anxiety among hundreds of thousands of students who wrote the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and were preparing for post-UTME screenings. Many had already begun gathering documents and paying for screening exercises at the affected institutions. The suspension threatens to disrupt the entire academic calendar, potentially causing a domino effect that could delay the start of the academic session by several months.
According to detailed reporting from The Nigerian, “Education stakeholders have expressed concern about the timing of the injunction, noting that any prolonged delay in admissions could have catastrophic consequences for the academic calendar and leave hundreds of thousands of students in limbo. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has yet to issue an official statement on the court’s decision.”
University administrators at both institutions are reportedly in emergency meetings to determine their next steps. While they are legally bound to comply with the court order, there are concerns about the practical implications of suspending admissions at this critical stage of the academic planning cycle. Both universities have substantial administrative machinery dedicated to the annual admission process, including screening committees, admission officers, and IT systems that would now be idled by the injunction.
The situation is particularly tense at UNILAG, which typically receives over 60,000 applications for approximately 6,000 available spaces. OAU faces similar pressures, with admission competition remaining fiercely intense year after year. Student union leaders have called for calm among prospective students while urging the federal government and National Assembly to intervene to prevent what they describe as “an educational crisis of monumental proportions.”
Legal experts suggest the case could set a significant precedent for how Nigeria balances merit-based admissions with constitutional requirements for geographic representation. The resolution of this case may ultimately require legislative action or a constitutional amendment to clarify the application of federal character principles in educational admissions. As the nation awaits the next court hearing, the futures of countless young Nigerians hang in the balance, highlighting the ongoing tensions between equity, excellence, and access in the country’s education system.
