The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has vowed to take strict action against candidates and parents involved in examination fraud, describing the activities as a “grave and disturbing development” threatening the integrity of Nigeria’s education system.
Professor Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB’s Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, made the declaration on Saturday while addressing journalists in Abuja, saying the Board had convened the briefing to confront activities “that strike at the heart of fairness, merit and integrity in the Nigerian educational system.”
Oloyede said the Board had invested heavily in financial, technological, and institutional measures to protect the credibility of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). “These efforts are not optional. They are necessary to protect millions of honest candidates whose only crime is believing that hard work still matters,” he added.
The registrar revealed that recent investigations uncovered criminal syndicates using artificial intelligence to impersonate JAMB officials and defraud candidates. He stressed that both students and their parents were complicit. “All those who subscribed, who paid to be assisted — we are making appropriate recommendations to the authorities, particularly to the Minister of Education, so that we can cancel all the registrations,” Oloyede said.
He disclosed that over 100 candidates were implicated, with 83 confirmed to have made payments across 25 states. “This shows it is not peculiar to a particular part of the country. It is evenly distributed,” he said.
Oloyede dismissed claims that the Board had increased registration fees, warning the public to report anyone charging more than last year’s fee. He also confirmed that some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres had been sanctioned and suspended.
Rejecting suggestions for negotiation with offenders, the registrar said, “How do you negotiate with criminals? It is like saying we should continue to use fake drugs because there are no genuine drugs.” He added that suspects who fled the country after last year’s examination had begun seeking negotiations, but they would be referred to security agencies.
He issued a stern warning that paying for examination fraud would attract severe penalties. “Receiving illegal assistance is a punishable offence. Being a willing member of a WhatsApp group where these fake services are offered will no longer be condoned. Ignorance will not be accepted as a defence,” he said.
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Oloyede also sent a direct message to parents and guardians, warning that paying for fraud destroys a child’s future and teaches deception as an acceptable strategy. He revealed that some school proprietors were among those arrested in connection with the scams.
Expressing confidence in JAMB’s capacity to counter increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes, Oloyede thanked security agencies, including the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Directorate of State Services, the Nigerian Police Force, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, for their cooperation.
He added that the Board had strengthened its technical systems, including the ability to detect prohibited devices during examinations, and expressed concern over the involvement of underage candidates.
Oloyede concluded by appealing to the media to help educate parents on the consequences of examination fraud.
The 2026 UTME registration process began on January 26 and closed at accredited centres on February 28, with over 1.5 million candidates registered as of February 17.