Victoria Mgbanwa
The Federal Government has ordered the immediate blacklisting of Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres and candidates found guilty of advanced examination malpractice, following what it described as an alarming rise in high-tech fraud during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The directive was issued by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, in a letter dated May 27, 2025, to key national examination bodies, including the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (NECO), and the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB).
Dr. Alausa called for strict sanctions against any school or CBT centre involved in malpractice, instructing that such centres be derecognised for a number of years to be determined by the respective examination body. He further directed that all examination bodies impose concurrent penalties on any institution blacklisted by one of them.
“If any school or CBT centre is derecognised by any examination body, other sister examination bodies should follow suit and derecognise the same school/CBT centre for the same number of years to run concurrently. This will send a very strong signal to operators of these miracle Centre,” he stated.
The minister also announced a new measure to target students who engage in exam malpractice. Any candidate found guilty, he said, will be barred from taking external examinations for three years across all examination bodies, using their National Identification Number (NIN) for enforcement.
He cited Section 16(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act as the legal basis for the sweeping action. The section empowers examination bodies to share details of offenders and impose uniform penalties.
The crackdown comes in response to what JAMB officials have described as a surge in sophisticated fraud techniques during the 2025 UTME. The board’s registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, revealed that more than 3,000 candidates have already been identified as participants or beneficiaries of advanced digital malpractice schemes.
“These unwholesome practices include collusion of certain CBT centre/school proprietors, with the connivance of accredited centres, to hack the networks of targeted CBT centres, thereby gaining control of candidates’ computers and remotely submitting their responses to the relevant local server of the centre as recently discovered by security agencies to whom we are profoundly grateful.” Oloyede said.
According to him, some candidates were deliberately paired with hired mercenaries after tampering with the sitting arrangements, while others colluded with centre operators to bypass security protocols.
He expressed concern that many of those involved are current undergraduates, further complicating efforts to uphold the integrity of the tertiary education system.
JAMB has already begun withdrawing results of implicated candidates and said the process will continue as investigations yield more evidence.
“But as investigation progresses, all candidates implicated in these unwholesome activities will have their results withdrawn as soon as incontrovertible proofs are established, even if the results have been released,” Oloyede added.
The minister’s directive is seen as part of a broader strategy to restore credibility to Nigeria’s examination system and curb the rising threat of organised digital exam fraud.
Authorities say they are working closely with security agencies to dismantle the syndicates behind the schemes and ensure that offenders face the full weight of the law.
