The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has uncovered what it describes as a technologically sophisticated scheme aimed at compromising the integrity of its registration system for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

At the centre of the unfolding scandal is an alleged syndicate accused of deploying artificial intelligence tools to manipulate the registration process, enabling ineligible candidates, many of them underage, to scale screening hurdles.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Saturday, JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed that the board has launched a full-scale investigation into the operation.

According to him, the misconduct extends beyond external collaborators and reaches into the examination body itself.

READ ALSO: JAMB Denies Registration Fee Hike, Confirms Charges Unchanged Since 2019

Three senior officials of the board have been recommended for dismissal over their alleged roles in sabotaging internal safeguards.

Additionally, two other JAMB staff members and an employee of Ahmadu Bello University are currently facing criminal prosecution for activities deemed harmful to the credibility of the examination process.

Oloyede revealed that the investigation has exposed a worrying pattern involving minors pressured into seeking university admission ahead of time.

“Parents and their children are willing collaborators and cannot be said to be innocent,” he said.

Read Also

According to JAMB data, approximately 38,000 underage candidates registered for the 2026 UTME. Of that number, about 100 were identified as having received assistance from the syndicate during registration.

“We have made recommendations to the minister of education to cancel their registration; there are about 100 of them,” Oloyede stated.

The board has formally forwarded the names of the affected candidates to the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, with a recommendation that their registrations be annulled.

The alleged malpractice is not confined to a single region. Oloyede noted that the scheme spans at least 25 states across the country, underscoring the scale and coordination involved.

He further disclosed that three school proprietors are currently in custody for aiding and abetting examination malpractices, as security agencies intensify efforts to dismantle the network behind the operation.

While commending law enforcement for their collaboration, the registrar insisted that the board remains technologically prepared to counter emerging threats.

“We are ahead of them. The only problem we have is public opinion,” he said.

JAMB maintains that those found culpable both within and outside the institution will face the full weight of administrative and criminal sanctions as the investigation progresses.