The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has received a report from its Special Committee on Examination Infractions (SCEI), exposing how technology-driven malpractice was undermining Nigeria’s admission process.
Presenting the report on Monday,September 8,2025,in Abuja to the JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Jake Epelle revealed that the team uncovered 4,251 cases of “finger blending” and 190 instances of AI-assisted impersonation through image morphing during its investigations into the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The panel which was inaugurated on August 18, 2025, was tasked with probing rising infractions, reviewing JAMB’s systems, and recommending reforms.
Epelle described the assignment as more than administrative, but a moral obligation, a national service, and a fight for the soul of meritocracy in Nigeria.
Beyond finger blending and AI impersonation, the committee documented 1,878 false disability claims, forged credentials, multiple National Identification Number (NIN) registrations, and collusion between candidates and examination syndicates
According to Epelle, malpractice has become highly organised, technology-driven, and dangerously normalised.
He warned that parents, tutorial centres, schools, and even some CBT operators were complicit in the fraud, while weak legal frameworks made enforcement difficult.
To reclaim integrity in admissions, the committee urged JAMB to adopt a multi-pronged response that includes deploying AI-powered biometric anomaly tools, real-time monitoring, and a central Examination Security Operations Centre.
Also recommended by the Committee was cancellation of fraudulent results, imposing bans of one to three years, prosecuting offenders and collaborators, and establishing a Central Sanctions Registry to be accessible to institutions and employers.
On prevention, the panel called for digitising correction processes, strengthening disability verification, tightening mobile-first platforms, and outlawing bulk school-led registrations.
It further advised legal reforms through amendments to the JAMB Act and Examination Malpractice Act to recognise biometric and digital fraud, as well as the creation of a Legal Unit within JAMB.
The committee also stressed the need for cultural reorientation, urging a nationwide Integrity First campaign, embedding of ethics in school curricula, and parental accountability for aiding malpractice.
For under-18 offenders, it recommended rehabilitative measures under the Child Rights Act, including counseling and supervised re-registration rather than punitive sanctions.
The committee warned that unless urgent reforms were implemented, the credibility of Nigeria’s education system would be further eroded.
“If left unchecked, examination malpractice will continue to erode merit, undermine public trust, and destroy the very foundation of Nigeria’s education and human capital development,” Epelle said.
Responding after receiving the report, JAMB Registrar, Oloyede, noted that the report would be given accelerated attention, especially on issues that fall within the purview of JAMB, while the Board would interface with the National Assembly for review of its legal instrument where necessary.
He said the committee’s work underscored JAMB’s commitment to transparency and credibility as an assessment body, stressing that malpractice has devastating consequences for individuals and the nation.
Oloyede called for parenting, by example, stating that 80 percent of the malpractice cases nationwide were planned and executed by parents.
According to him, such parental complicity not only undermines ethical standards but also “seamlessly integrates children into the world of criminality,” perpetuating a cycle of dishonesty and underdevelopment.
“Examination malpractice is not a victimless crime. It devalues education, cheats hardworking candidates, and produces incompetent professionals, engineers who cannot build, doctors who endanger lives, and graduates unfit to contribute to society,” he said.
The JAMB boss assured that the exam body was committed to providing an educational assessment result that can always be trusted because of its validity and standards.
Oloyede, however, noted that exam malpractice in UTME was declining as only 140 cases were recorded this year, but registration infractions or technologically-induced fraud was the big problem as it is still new to the system.
He warned that technologically-induced examination malpractice poses a grave threat to Nigeria’s education system, national integrity, and long-term development.
He announced that JAMB has put in place a three-pronged strategy to combat exam malpractice namely stringent sanctions: enforcing clear, consistent, and uncompromising penalties against offenders, irrespective of status.
He said the board was also using investment in integrity as a strategy by deploying technology and robust processes to safeguard the assessment system and make malpractice increasingly difficult.
The third tool employed by the board,he said, is moral education, which encourages parents and schools to instill values of honesty and character, reminding candidates that “character is more important than grades.”
On the controversy over underage candidates, Oloyede reaffirmed that those below 16 years were not eligible for admission into tertiary institutions, except in rare cases of exceptional brilliance identified through JAMB’s approved mechanism.
He dismissed calls for blanket waivers, saying: “If anyone wants the law changed, they should go to the National Assembly. Education is not guesswork.”
The Registrar commended the independent committee for its diligence and professionalism, assuring that JAMB would adopt its evidence-based recommendations as far as the law permits.
