The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Monday warned that sophisticated, technology-enabled malpractices are undermining the integrity of Nigeria’s admission process.
The board said this after receiving a report from its Special Committee on Examination Infractions.
The committee, chaired by Dr. Jake Epelle, presented its findings to JAMB Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede in Abuja on Monday.
Inaugurated on August 18, 2025, the panel was mandated to investigate irregularities in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, assess JAMB systems, and propose corrective reforms.
Epelle told reporters that the probe uncovered alarming new methods of fraud.
The committee documented 4,251 cases of “finger blending”—deliberate manipulation of biometric checks—and 190 instances of AI-assisted impersonation using image morphing.
Epelle said the investigators also found 1,878 false disability claims, widespread forged credentials, multiple National Identification Number registrations, and evidence of collusion between candidates and organised syndicates.
The probe implicated a broad network of facilitators, Epelle said, naming parents, tutorial centres, some schools and several CBT operators as complicit, while noting that weak legal frameworks hampered enforcement.
“To us this was a moral obligation, a national service and a fight for the soul of meritocracy in Nigeria,” Epelle said, describing malpractice as “highly organised, technology-driven and dangerously normalised.”
To restore credibility, the panel proposed the deployment of AI-powered biometric anomaly tools, real-time monitoring, and a central Examination Security Operations Centre, cancellation of fraudulent results, sanctions ranging from one- to three-year bans, prosecution of offenders, and the establishment of a Central Sanctions Registry for institutions and employers and prevention measures such as digitising correction processes, strengthening disability verification, tightening mobile-first platforms, and outlawing bulk school-led registrations.
The committee also called for legal reforms, including amendments to the JAMB Act and the Examination Malpractice Act to cover biometric and digital fraud, as well as the creation of a Legal Unit within JAMB.
It urged a cultural reorientation drive through a nationwide Integrity First campaign, embedding ethics in school curricula, and holding parents accountable for aiding malpractice.
The committee recommended that offenders under 18 receive rehabilitative measures under the Child Rights Act, such as counselling and supervised reintegration, rather than punitive sanctions.
Epelle warned that unless urgent reforms are implemented, the credibility of Nigeria’s education system could collapse further.
“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,” he cautioned.
The Punch
