The Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti (FUTES) Prof. Gbenga Aribisala, has appealed to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board to give the institution two weeks’ extension for it to handle admission requests in the new institution.

Aribisala said that the university could only process the admission for 1,200 candidates, whereas it had a quota of 1,500 candidates.

The VC, in a chat with journalists at Iyin Ekiti on Friday, spoke against the backdrop of JAMB’s decision to close the admission portal for all public institutions by midnight on Friday, October 31, thus shutting the door of admission for the session.

Aribisala said that FUTESI was under some kind of pressure from qualified admission seekers still flocking to the new institution.

He said, “That is why we are kind of being under some tension.
Because after closing the portal by midnight today (Friday), there are still thousands of candidates who are interested. In fact, you can see some of them hanging since morning here. It is all because of admission.

“I am pleading with the JAMB authority to please, because we are just coming, we are a new university, we were just enlisted on the caps. JAMB should please give us maybe two weeks additional in the month of November so that we can also take more students to start with us.

“We have a quota of 1,500 candidates, we have about 1,200 candidates now. So if we have two weeks more, we will be able to still accommodate some of the admission seekers crashing on us”.

The VC expressed hope that academic activities would begin hopefully in December, “because some of our facilities are getting ready”.

He said that President Bola Tinubu had “graciously approved that we do recruitment of staff, both teaching and non-teaching. And by the special grace of God, the advertisement will be out by next week and it is going to run for about six weeks.

“After that, we are going to do the recruitment. And then we can have the full complement of both staff. And then the university can start to run,” the VC said.

PUNCH Online reported in August that JAMB ordered Nigerian public universities to finalise their 2025 admission processes by October 31, 2025.

According to a schedule contained in the board’s weekly bulletin, all private universities are also required to complete admissions by November 30, 2025.

The admission board said the decision aimed to stabilise the academic calendar and ensure equitable access to admission slots across all tertiary institutions.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu, on February 20, 2025, assented to two separate bills establishing FUTES, Iyin Ekiti, and Federal University of Agriculture and Development Studies, Iragbiji, Osun State.

Tinubu, according to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said that “the specialised institutions will address the educational needs of the populace while driving research and innovation and contributing to the country’s overall economic growth and development.

He said, “The institutions will serve as training grounds for developing agriculture, science, and technology professionals and enhancing Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global economy.”