ABU wins JAMB’s ₦500m best institution award

Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, emerged as the best-performing institution in Nigeria at the National Tertiary Admissions’ Performance-Merit Award (NATAP-M) for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 admission years.

ABU clinched the coveted first place and was awarded ₦500 million with an impressive aggregate of 14 points across all five performance criteria of the mega award.

The University of Ilorin(UNILORIN) settled for the second spot with nine points and won ₦75 million prize, while the Nile University of Nigeria came third with six points and was awarded ₦25 million., The winners were unveiled at the fifth edition of the NATAP-M awards, held during the 2025 JAMB Policy Meeting in Abuja on Monday.

Organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the programme aims to promote healthy competition and reward excellence among tertiary institutions in Nigeria.,

Also, Kaduna Polytechnic was named the best polytechnic with a total of 10 points, earning a ₦50 million prize in the sectoral categories

The Federal College of Education took the top spot among colleges of education with an aggregate of 18 points and received ₦50 million as well. PEFTI Film Institute, Lagos, was awarded ₦10 million as the best innovative enterprise institution, having scored four points.

In his remark, JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, explained that the selection process was based on five key criteria.

These included the highest number of candidates seeking admission into the institution, geographical diversity in admissions from all 36 states and the FCT, and the admission of at least 1, the number of foreign candidates admitted, improvements in gender balance, and compliance with the Central Admission Processing System, CAPS, guidelines.,

Oloyede said that the NATAP-M awards are part of JAMB’s broader commitment to promoting transparency, equity, and merit in Nigeria’s tertiary admissions process., 500 candidates. Additional considerations were the equitable distribution of admissions among catchment areas