The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has recommended sweeping sanctions against 11 Computer-Based Test, CBT, centres and numerous registrants found culpable in fingerprint irregularities during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, registration process.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, announced the disciplinary measures on Tuesday in Abuja following a stakeholders’ meeting with the affected centres and individuals.
The decision, he noted, aims to safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s examination system and ensure ethical compliance across the board.
“The Board recommends that any registrant involved in registering more than 50 candidates with fingerprint infractions be barred from all activities related to JAMB.
“Such individuals will be blacklisted from participating in UTME, including registration, for three years, and also barred from other public examinations like WAEC, NECO, and NABTEB within that period,” Oloyede stated through JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin.
Registrants with infractions below the 50-candidate threshold will receive official warnings and be required to write letters of apology alongside signing bonds committing to future compliance.
CBT centres involved in the malpractice will be mandated to sign ethical compliance bonds and undergo compulsory staff retraining.
This training, according to JAMB, must be conducted by relevant departments in federal universities nearest to the centres. Until such certifications are submitted, the affected centres will remain suspended from JAMB activities.
“We are taking this route not just for punishment, but to correct, to prevent, and to protect. No centre will work with JAMB again until we receive verifiable evidence that their staff have been retrained in ethics and compliance, ” he said.
He warned that ignorance would no longer be an excuse for violations, especially in critical national examinations.
The crackdown follows confessions from many of the affected registrants and CBT centre staff who admitted to engaging in ‘finger contribution,’ fraudulent practice where one candidate’s fingerprint is used to register multiple others. Tearful appeals for leniency were made during the session, with many citing lack of awareness or the pressure to meet registration quotas.
Former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, a stakeholder present at the meeting, expressed strong disapproval of the infractions.
He advocated legal prosecution but also urged JAMB to temper justice with mercy by allowing first-time offenders to sign undertakings and reform.
An official from one of the indicted centres, Jicoras CBT Centre, Bashir Gumel, pledged internal disciplinary action and full cooperation with JAMB.
“This is our first time and we were unaware. But we’re taking responsibility, and we assure the Board this will not happen again,” he said.
The affected CBT centres include: Misau Emirate ICT Centre, Bauchi State, Ijaw National Academy, Kiama, Bayelsa State, Nigerian Army University Directorate of ICT, Biu, Gombe State, Emerald IT Academy, Benin City, Edo State and Tigh Technologies, Sascon International School, Abuja.
Others are Jicoras CBT Centre, Babura, Jigawa State, Huntsville Technology Ltd., Anthony, Lagos State, Jolas College CBT Centre, Obalende, Lagos, Abdul Ocean Weath CBT Centre, Ibadan, Oyo State, National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, Wase, Plateau State, and Consulate Salle D’Examen CBT Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The recommended sanctions are pending final approval by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Alausa.
