The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has raised the alarm over the extremely low turnout at the 2025 nationwide mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), with over 80 percent of the 98,232 registered candidates failing to show up.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed during an inspection at the Technology CBT Centre in Abuja that only about 12 percent of the candidates appeared for the exam, a trend attributed to stricter security measures aimed at curbing impersonation and examination fraud.
“Mop-up exams are traditionally reserved for about 4,000 to 5,000 candidates with genuine reasons for missing the main UTME, such as illness or technical issues,” Oloyede said. “However, this year we expanded the scope to accommodate all who missed the main exam, while leveraging security intelligence to track impersonators.”
He noted that despite registration by over 90,000 candidates, only 12,442 printed their exam slips, and many CBT centres recorded less than 20 candidates per session.
According to Oloyede, intensified collaboration with the State Security Service and the police led to uncovering several malpractice rings, including a bizarre trend where individuals falsely declared themselves as albino to bypass biometric detection systems. He revealed that over 1,700 self-declared albinos were recorded, but investigations showed fewer than 250 legitimate cases, with one centre suspiciously registering 450.
“These impostors manipulate AI photo-blending to trick facial recognition systems. But we are now several steps ahead,” he said.
The JAMB Registrar stressed that all suspects have traceable data—NINs, phone numbers, and school records—and several have already been arrested. He warned that parents sponsoring these schemes would also be held accountable.
On the mop-up results, he said they may be delayed till Monday to allow for proper verification and the removal of fraudulent entries.
Oloyede also revealed that 14 Direct Entry candidates have been caught with fake certificates, some from institutions backdating admissions to exploit a 2017-2020 amnesty policy.
He accused some colleges of fabricating NCE qualifications for students who never attended such programs.
“This fraud must stop. Institutions and individuals involved will face the consequences,” he concluded.
JAMB reaffirmed its commitment to sanitizing the examination system and maintaining the integrity of tertiary admissions in Nigeria.
