…No Candidate Should Choose Between Her Faith And UTME.
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The Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has declared that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board cannot compel female Muslim candidates to remove their hijabs as a condition for sitting the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Justice Y. S. Adekunle held that any rule requiring the removal of a hijab worn for religious purposes before a candidate could participate in the UTME was unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.
The court delivered the judgment on July 20, 2026, in Suit No. I/560/2025, filed by Lawal Hameedat Adenike Olamide, a minor who sued through her mother, Mrs Basirat Ojo-Oba, against JAMB and PEFTI Film Institute Limited.
The action arose from the April 25, 2025 UTME, during which Olamide alleged that officials at the PEFTI Computer-Based Test Centre in Bodija, Ibadan, prevented her from writing the examination unless she removed her hijab.
The claimant argued that compelling her to remove the religious covering as the price for participating in a public examination violated her constitutionally guaranteed freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Justice Adekunle upheld the claimant’s case and found both JAMB and PEFTI liable for violating her fundamental rights.
The judge declared: “Any rules made by the defendants making removal of hijab used for religious purposes by any female candidate of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board Examination is illegal, null, void and a contradiction to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The court held that the defendants’ action in forcing Olamide to remove her hijab and making its removal a precondition for writing the examination infringed the rights protected under Section 38(1), (2) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution.
The claimant had asked the court to determine whether any policy requiring a Muslim female candidate to remove her hijab before sitting the UTME was consistent with Sections 1 and 38 of the Constitution.
She also sought a declaration that the treatment she received at the examination centre amounted to an unlawful interference with her right to manifest her religion through worship, observance and practice.
Justice Adekunle resolved the questions in her favour and declared the alleged policy inconsistent with the supremacy and fundamental-rights provisions of the Constitution.
The court awarded Olamide ₦10 million in damages against JAMB and PEFTI, jointly and severally, for the violation of her rights.
It also awarded ₦500,000 as the cost of prosecuting the action, bringing the total monetary award to ₦10.5 million.
Justice Adekunle further ordered JAMB and PEFTI to write separate letters apologising to the claimant for the violation of her rights.
The defendants were directed to publish the apologies in two national daily newspapers within seven days of the judgment.
The court had initially fixed July 14, 2026, for judgment but deferred the decision to consider a Court of Appeal ruling delivered on July 3 on a related hijab dispute involving the International School, University of Ibadan.
In that case, the appellate court distinguished between public schools and privately operated institutions, holding by a majority that the Supreme Court’s earlier decision on the right to wear hijab in public schools did not automatically apply to the university’s private secondary school.
Justice Adekunle eventually delivered the judgment in Olamide’s case on July 20 despite the commencement of the court’s annual vacation, following the consent of counsel to the parties.
Muazatulu Ibrahim and Ishaq Gbadegesin represented the claimant, while Mrs E. A. Oladapo appeared for JAMB. PEFTI Film Institute Limited was not represented when judgment was delivered.
The decision means that Muslim female candidates cannot lawfully be compelled to remove their hijabs before writing the UTME merely because they are wearing the covering for religious purposes.
JAMB had separately clarified in February 2026 that Muslim candidates were not required to remove their hijabs during registration. The examination body said candidates were only expected to make their ears visible for biometric photography without completely removing the covering.
The judgment reinforces the obligation of examination bodies and accredited CBT centres to conduct identity and security checks in a manner that does not unnecessarily interfere with candidates’ constitutionally protected religious practices.
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Authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq., ACIarb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director at the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
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