Victoria Mbangwa
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has intensified its efforts to sanitize Nigeria’s tertiary education admission process, announcing the flagging of over 17,000 candidates linked to a fake admission letter syndicate that operated across the country.
In a statement by JAMB’s spokesman, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the Board revealed that five ringleaders behind the notorious forgery syndicate have been arrested and are currently facing prosecution at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The development follows a collaborative investigation by JAMB and the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), which began after the Board raised concerns in 2024 over falsified admission letters being sold to desperate candidates.
According to Benjamin, “the suspects confessed to producing the fake admission letters and are currently being prosecuted at the Federal High Court, Abuja in the case between Inspector General of Police Vs Effa Leonard and four (4) others.”
Of these, 6,903 have since been cleared after rectifying minor discrepancies. However, 10,514 candidates remain under scrutiny, with 5,669 confirmed to have procured fake admission letters and another 4,832 implicated in efforts to bypass official procedures through the syndicate.
Thirteen candidates from institutions such as Bayero University, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, and the University of Ilorin were found to have been flagged due to acts of omission or commission. JAMB stated that these individuals, registered in 2017 when the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) was introduced, have now been asked to correct their records and print legitimate admission letters.
The Board also revealed that 1,532 candidates have been condoned, despite being linked to the scam, after their institutions confirmed they were eventually processed through legitimate, though initially undisclosed, channels.
Meanwhile, JAMB reiterated its commitment to rooting out all forms of examination and admission malpractice, warning that 3,300 candidates whose institutions have not backed their claims remain under investigation.
In a related update, the Board announced the release of results for the 2025 mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) held on Saturday, June 28. A total of 11,161 candidates’ results have been released, out of the 96,838 candidates who were scheduled to participate.
Candidates who have not yet accessed their results were advised to send the word “UTMERESULT” (as one word) to 55019 or 66019 using the same phone number used during registration. JAMB noted that most complaints of inaccessible results stemmed from non-compliance with this instruction.
As the Board continues its nationwide screening and cleanup process, Dr. Benjamin reaffirmed that any candidate found to have engaged in fraud will face full legal consequences under the Examination Malpractices Act.
