Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has raised a special purpose committee to probe the 6,458 cases of technology-driven malpractice detected during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
JAMB’s Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede inaugurated the 23-member committee in Abuja,the Nigeria capital, today, August 18.
As yet, it is unclear if JAMB will, when the committee rounds off, submit its findings to security agencies for further necessary action.
Speaking during the inauguration, Oloyede lamented the rising sophistication of examination fraud in the country.
He revealed that the results of 6,458 candidates remain under investigation for alleged involvement in high-tech cheating, urging the committee to submit a report not later than three weeks from today.
The Registrar said: “This year we came across a number of strange things, and we felt that it would be better if we expanded our resources. And we believe that God has endowed this nation with a lot of resources that we can tap from.”
According to him, malpractice has evolved beyond traditional schemes into “technologically sophisticated forms”, some of which he listed as multiple cases of biometric and identity fraud by some accredited Computer-Based Training (CBT) centres and candidates.
Oloyede added that while 141 cases of “normal” exam malpractices have been sent to JAMB’s disciplinary committee, the committee will handle “extraordinary infractions” such as image blending, albinism falsification, finger pairing, and attempts to breach some CBT centers’ local area network.
“Submit a report not later than three weeks after the inauguration of the committee,” he charged them.
Members of the committee include Professors Muhammad Bello, Samuel Odewummi, Chinedum Nwajiuba, Tanko Ishaya, and Ibe Ifeakandu; retired Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni, Dr. Chuks Okpaka of Microsoft Africa, and the President of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
Also represented are the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), among others.
