‘CBT Centres Guilty Of UTME Fraud Will Be Shut, Owners Jailed’, Says JAMB Committee

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has vowed to clamp down connected computer-based trial (CBT) centres progressive successful wide fraud during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), with operators facing jailhouse presumption and imperishable closure of their centres.

Chairman of the JAMB Special Committee connected Examination Infractions (SCEI), Jake Epelle, disclosed this during an interrogation connected Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ connected Monday night, wherever helium described the level of malpractice uncovered arsenic “mind-blowing.”

“What we saw is mind-blowing, the manipulations, the transactions; you volition spot young radical with a batch of exertion successful their hands. It’s amazing,” Epelle said.

“In 1 of the sessions, I addressed the constabulary investigating, and I said, ‘I privation to spot this idiosyncratic successful jail.’ It’s not a question of investigating this and letting radical spell scot-free. A batch of CBT centres are going to beryllium unopen down, their instrumentality taken from them, and the owners extremity up successful jail.”

The committee’s probe documented implicit 4,000 cases of fraud, including 4,251 instances of “finger blending” (biometric manipulation), 192 cases of AI-assisted impersonation done representation morphing, 1,878 mendacious disablement claims, forged credentials, aggregate National Identification Number (NIN) registrations, and collusion betwixt candidates and exam syndicates.

Epelle stressed that portion JAMB has immoderate of the champion technologies for exam management, however, definite individuals were bent connected compromising the system.

“The acquisition assemblage is successful trouble,” helium warned. “The concern would person been worse if JAMB had not applied technology. The strategy is not to blame, we are successful an AI property wherever exertion is exploited by astute people.”

The committee president did not spare parents, accusing them of fueling exam malpractice.

“Eighty per cent of these infractions are caused by parents who privation to springiness marks to their children that they don’t deserve. This is my telephone to JAMB: the clip has travel to sanction and shame,” helium declared.

“These aforesaid parents spell connected aerial and accidental each kinds of evil against JAMB, disgrace the system, and endanger to sue. Many of them spell connected aerial with SANs. Meanwhile, by the clip they commencement interrogating, they commencement begging Oloyede; it has happened, we saw the cases.”

He added that immoderate schools and tutorial centres were arsenic culpable.

The committee’s report, submitted to JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede successful Abuja, followed weeks of probe involving information agencies and experts.

Recall that JAMB itself admitted to method glitches that marred this year’s UTME, affecting 157 of the 887 exam centres. This resulted successful unusually debased scores for thousands of candidates and forced the committee to bid a resit for astir 380,000 students.

An affectional Oloyede apologised during a property briefing successful Abuja, saying the bureau took afloat responsibility.

“Once again, we apologise and guarantee you that this incidental represents a important setback,” Oloyede said arsenic helium fought backmost tears, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief. “We stay committed to emerging stronger successful our halfway values of transparency, fairness, and equity. It is our civilization to admit errors due to the fact that we cognize that successful spite of the champion of our efforts, we are human; we are not perfect.”

The committee has since announced that affected candidates would retake their exams starting May 16, 2025.

LEADERSHIP reports that JAMB’s breakdown of the 2025 UTME results showed that of the 1.95 cardinal candidates who sat the exam, 1.53 cardinal (78.5%) scored beneath 200.
Only 4,756 candidates (0.24%) scored 320 and above, 7,658 candidates (0.39%) scored betwixt 300–319 and 334,560 candidates (17.1%) scored betwixt 200–249.

The largest group, 983,187 candidates (50.3%), scored betwixt 160–199 and 2,031 candidates (0.1%) scored beneath 100.

The Special Committee recommended that JAMB follow stronger reforms, including AI-powered biometric anomaly tools, real-time monitoring, and a cardinal introspection information operations centre to tackle malpractice successful aboriginal exercises.