The position was made public by Tolani Sule during a ministerial press briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa on Wednesday as part of activities commemorating the third anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.
According to Sule, the benchmark approved by JAMB falls short of the academic expectations and educational standards maintained by Lagos State institutions.
“To us in Lagos State, the cut-off marks approved by JAMB look too low for our universities. None of our three universities is admitting any student who scored below 185 in the UTME,” the commissioner stated.
He argued that while JAMB may have adopted the lower cut-off mark to accommodate varying educational realities across the country’s six geopolitical zones, Lagos should not be compelled to lower its standards to align with states classified as educationally disadvantaged.
“For JAMB to announce 150 as the cut-off mark out of the 400 obtainable marks in the UTME for this year’s admission seekers is very low,” Sule said.
“Lagos cannot be considered educationally disadvantaged to the extent of bringing its cut-off mark down to meet what Sokoto or Zamfara State requires,” he added.
The commissioner maintained that the state government remains committed to preserving academic excellence while simultaneously expanding access to higher education.
He explained that the rapid expansion of state-owned tertiary institutions under the current administration reflects Governor Sanwo-Olu’s broader strategy to create more educational opportunities for Lagos residents without compromising quality.
According to Sule, Lagos State has already increased the number of its universities from one to three, with plans underway to establish a fourth state-owned university in the near future.
“Increasing our universities from one to three is still part of what the state governor is doing to provide more educational platforms and opportunities for Lagos residents,” he said.
“And increasing the number to four is still part of this effort by the state government to give all admission seekers the opportunity to get tertiary education in Lagos,” Sule added.
The development comes amid ongoing national conversations about university admission benchmarks, access to tertiary education, and concerns over declining educational standards across parts of the country.
While JAMB’s lower cut-off policy is seen by some stakeholders as an attempt to broaden access and accommodate candidates from underserved regions, critics argue that significantly reduced benchmarks could weaken academic competitiveness in top institutions.
Lagos State, however, appears determined to maintain stricter admission standards as part of its wider push to position its tertiary institutions among the country’s leading centres of academic excellence.