The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has insisted that candidates currently enrolled in tertiary institutions and seeking to register for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and Direct Entry must disclose their matriculation status, warning that failure follow the direct order will result in the forfeiture of both admissions.
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In a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, signed by the Board’s Public Communication Adviser, Dr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB condemned what it described as “deliberate misrepresentation being propagated by some unscrupulous self-styled education advocates for parochial interests.”
The Board stated that the individuals are misrepresenting the Board’s directives and causing confusion among candidates and parents for selfish gain.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been drawn to a misleading and unfortunate distortion of a portion of the Board’s clear directives to candidates registering for the 2026 UTME/DE, as contained in the 2026 UTME/DE advertisement.
“This development is hardly surprising, as such individuals routinely surface at the commencement of every registration cycle. Many of them do not take the time to read or properly understand the guidelines, yet hastily rush to the public space with false narratives aimed solely at attracting traffic to their social media platforms. Had they read the instructions, they would have found them unambiguous and straightforward.”
The Board clarified that, in line with the examination statutory mandate to prevent multiple matriculations, JAMB directed all aspiring candidates for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination to disclose their admission status.
The statement added, “For the avoidance of doubt and for record purposes, and in line with its statutory mandate to prevent multiple matriculations, the Board directed that all candidates registering for the 2026 UTME/DE must disclose their matriculation status, where applicable.
“It is not an offence for a candidate to register for the UTME/DE while still enrolled in an institution. However, failure to disclose such status constitutes an offence. Disclosure simply means that once a candidate secures admission through the latest registration, the former admission automatically ceases to subsist.”
The statement further reads, “The law is explicit that no candidate is permitted to hold two admissions concurrently.
“Furthermore, recent findings indicate that many matriculated students are engaged as professional examination takers. Mandatory disclosure, therefore, expedites appropriate action whenever such candidates are apprehended.”
“Although the Board’s system has the capacity to detect prior matriculation, any candidate discovered to have failed to disclose such stands the risk of forfeiting both opportunities.
“The Board therefore urges the public to be cautious of these so-called education advocates who are perpetually eager to mislead candidates and parents for selfish gain. Members of the public are advised to carefully read official guidelines and avoid accepting distorted interpretations wholesale,” the statement concluded.
