Nigerian senior secondary school students in arts and humanities will no longer be required to present a credit in mathematics in their Senior School Certificate Examination, organised by the West African Examination Council and National Examination Council, as a condition for admission to universities and polytechnics, the Federal Ministry of Education said on Tuesday.

For years, admission seekers in arts and humanities, like their contemporaries in sciences and social sciences, have been mandated to have five credits, including mathematics and English language, to secure admission into higher institutions.

“The revised National Guidelines for Entry Requirements into Nigerian Tertiary Institutions are designed to remove barriers while maintaining academic standards.

“The new framework applies to universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and Innovation Enterprise Academies across the country as follows:

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“Universities: Minimum of five (5) credit passes in relevant subjects, including English Language, obtained in not more than two sittings. Mathematics is mandatory for Science, Technology, and Social Science courses.

“Polytechnics (ND Level): Minimum of four (4) credit passes in relevant subjects, including English Language for non-science courses and Mathematics for science-related programs.

“Polytechnics (HND Level): Minimum of five (5) credit passes in relevant subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

“Colleges of Education (NCE Level): Minimum of four (4) credit passes in relevant subjects, with English Language mandatory for Arts and Social Science courses, and Mathematics required for Science, Vocational, and Technical programs,” a statement by the FME’s spokesperson, Folasade Boriowo, said.

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An education analyst, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, who spoke to our correspondent in Abuja, hailed the reform.

“This is a brilliant reform, which we hope will open the doors and improve the ease of admissions into tertiary institutions for more seekers.”

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, described the reform as a deliberate effort to expand access to tertiary education.

The ministry also approved a comprehensive reform of admission entry requirements into all tertiary institutions across the country, increasing the average annual intake from about 700,000 to one million students.

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According to the government, the new policy aims to expand access to higher education and create opportunities for an additional 250,000 to 300,000 admissions each year.

The minister explained that the reform became necessary after years of limited access, which left many qualified candidates unable to secure admission despite meeting the required standards.

“Every year, over two million candidates sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), yet only about 700,000 gain admission. This imbalance is not due to lack of ability but outdated and overly stringent entry requirements that must give way to fairness and opportunity.

“The reform is a deliberate effort to expand access to tertiary education, creating opportunities for an additional 250,000 to 300,000 students each year. It reflects our commitment to ensuring that every Nigerian youth has a fair chance to learn, grow, and succeed—putting the Renewed Hope Agenda into action,’’ he said.

The revised National Guidelines for Entry Requirements into Nigerian Tertiary Institutions are designed to remove barriers while maintaining academic standards.

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has explained his absence at the recent Council of State meeting, where Prof Joash Amupitan was nominated as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The minister stated this during the commissioning of the Access Roads in Sector Centre B, Dakibiyu District, in Abuja on Tuesday.

Wike explained that he had directed the Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, to represent him at the meeting, while he attended to previous engagements already put in place, describing reports that he declined to attend the meeting because his nominee for the position of INEC Chairman was ignored as “unnecessary propaganda and blackmail”.

“Sometime last week, Thursday, we had a flag off. And I told the Minister of State, FCT, to represent me at the Council of State meeting. I had already told Mr President that I would not be available because of other engagements we had already put in place. And so, the Honourable Minister of State represented the FCT in that meeting.

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“That is why we have to be careful when people carry unnecessary propaganda and blackmail. But in spite of those things, be focused; you will achieve your results. They said I did not attend because I was not happy that my own nominee was not taken,” he said.

The Minister’s comments come days after the Council of State meeting, on Thursday, October 9th, 2025, where Prof Amupitan was nominated INEC Chairman, pending his confirmation by the Senate.

Meanwhile, online media platform, Sahara Reporters, stated that rifts between the Minister and President Bola Tinubu had deepened, causing the Minister to boycott the meeting and send the Minister of State in his place.

The report also stated that Wike had allegedly reached out to other Heads of State to boycott the meeting, and reportedly pushed for Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman, a justice of the Court of Appeal, to be nominated and appointed as INEC Chairman.

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However, Wike insisted that he worked for President Tinubu and that his delivery of projects in the FCT had silenced the critics.

“I work for Mr President. Mr President’s judgment, as far as I’m concerned, in this country has always been how to put this country in the right perspective. Be focused. When you start delivering, the achievement will silence all critics. Today they have nothing again to say,” the Minister stated.

Wike also commended the President for providing the right leadership, which he stated was responsible for the achievements made by the FCT Administration.

“I have always said, when you have the right leadership, you can achieve the expected results. Mr President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has shown the right leadership. People are talking about the achievements we have made. It is because we have the right leadership. When you have the right leadership, you get things right,” he said.

The Delta State Police Command has arrested two suspected drug dealers and rescued a kidnapped woman in separate operations, the force confirmed.

SP Bright Edafe, spokesperson for the command, said that operatives of the Crack Squad, acting on credible intelligence, raided a hideout in the Government Reserved Area (GRA), Effurun, in the early hours of 12 October 2025. Two suspects, Igwe Samson, 33, and Abalum Sunday, 39, were arrested.

During the operation, a search conducted on the suspects’ Sienna vehicle led to the recovery of a large cache of illicit drugs, including 450 bottles of CSP Codeine, 188 bottles of Bargadine, 208 sachets of Tramadol 100mg, 100 sachets of Tramadol 500mg, 300 sachets of Swinol, 50 sachets of Rophynol, and a bag of weeds suspected to be cannabis.

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According to the police, preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had been in the illegal drug business for about two years, sourcing their supplies from Onitsha and transporting them mostly at night to evade security detection.

“Efforts are ongoing to apprehend other members of the syndicate, including their suppliers and buyers,” Edafe stated.

In a separate incident, operatives of the Ovian-Aladja Police Division foiled a kidnapping operation and rescued a woman who had been abducted from her home in the early hours of the same day.

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The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Friday Ekundayo, reportedly acted on a distress call received around 2:00 a.m. and immediately led his team in pursuit of the kidnappers.

The suspects were tracked to a forest along the Iyara community, where the combined pressure from police operatives forced them to abandon their victim and flee.

The woman was safely rescued and has since been reunited with her family, while efforts are ongoing to arrest the fleeing suspects.