The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has inaugurated a 23-member special purpose committee to investigate 6,458 cases of technology-driven malpractice detected during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

 

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, inaugurated the committee on Monday in Abuja, expressing concern over the increasing sophistication of exam fraud.

 

He disclosed that the results of the affected candidates are currently under investigation, stressing that the committee must submit its findings within three weeks.

 

“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,” Oloyede said.

 

 

 

According to him, malpractice has now gone beyond traditional schemes into technologically advanced forms, with some accredited CBT centres and candidates engaging in biometric and identity fraud.

 

While 141 cases of “normal” malpractice have already been referred to JAMB’s disciplinary committee, the newly inaugurated panel will probe “extraordinary infractions” such as image blending, albinism falsification, finger pairing, and attempts to breach CBT centres’ local networks.

 

The committee comprises respected academics and security experts, including Prof. Muhammad Bello, Prof. Samuel Odewummi, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, Prof. Ibe Ifeakandu, retired Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni, Dr. Chuks Okpaka of Microsoft Africa, and the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students.

 

Also represented are the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force, and the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, among others.

 

The development underscores JAMB’s heightened vigilance in safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s tertiary admissions process amid rising cases of high-tech examination malpractice.