The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has recommended penalties and sanctions against Sascon International School, Abuja; Jolas College CBT Centre, Lagos, nine other Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres and agents implicated in biometric infractions during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
This was disclosed by the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, at a stakeholders’ meeting on exam infractions held on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to Oloyede, the recommended penalties target CBT centres and individuals involved in biometric and fingerprint manipulation during UTME registration, noting that final decisions will require the approval of the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa.
Penalties for operators and registrants
The Board proposed a three-year suspension for any CBT registrant involved in processing more than 50 compromised candidates.
“The leadership of JAMB and other stakeholders recommend that any registrant who registered more than 50 candidates (with infractions) should be dismissed from participating in any activities of the Board.
“What that means is that such a person will not participate in any UTME exercise, or be registered for UTME even as a student, and will not be allowed to participate in any of the sister examinations, be it WAEC, NECO, or NABTEB, for three years.
“After the three-year suspension, the Board will revisit it and look at the issue. If the registrant has shown any remorse, such a suspension could be lifted.
“Others who have registered less than 50 will be warned, and they will be required to write a letter of apology to the Board after issuing a bond, indicating that they will not be involved in such a thing again,” he said.
CBT centres involved in the infractions must also undergo compulsory ethics training for their staff at federal universities within their location, and provide evidence of compliance before re-engagement with the Board.
“We will not allow any of these centres to do anything with us until they bring a letter from a federal institution confirming that their workers have been trained on ethical standards,” Oloyede said.
For centres owned by the government, reports will be forwarded to the relevant authorities for further action.
Affected CBT centres
The 11 centres recommended for sanctions are:
- Misau Emirate ICT Centre, Bauchi
- Ijaw National Academy, Bayelsa
- Directorate of ICT, Nigerian Army University, Gombe
- Emerald IT Academy, Edo
- Tigh Technologies, Abuja
- Sascon International School, Abuja
- Jicoras CBT Centre, Jigawa
- Huntsville Technology Ltd, Lagos
- Jolas College CBT Centre, Lagos
- Abdul Ocean Weath CBT Centre, Ibadan
- NOUN CBT Centre, Plateau
- Consulate Salle D’Examen CBT Centre, Rivers
All affected centres must now provide proof that their registration staff have been retrained by the appropriate departments of federal universities closest to them before they can be re-engaged by JAMB.
According to Oloyede, those owned by federal government institutions will also be reported to their parent authorities.
Offenders plead ignorance, beg for mercy
Some agents and centre staff in attendance admitted to assisting candidates with multiple fingerprint entries. Many broke down in tears, pleading for leniency, and claimed they acted out of ignorance or pressure to increase registration numbers.
Former Lagos Commissioner of Police and stakeholder, Fatai Owoseni, called for stronger penalties, saying such infractions warrant prosecution and possible jail terms. He, however, urged JAMB to allow repentant offenders to sign undertakings as a first warning.
Bashir Gumel, a representative of Jicoras CBT Centre in Jigawa, told reporters that the centre had begun its own investigation and promised to forward disciplinary measures to JAMB.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported that among the roughly 1.955 million candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME, only 21.5% scored above 200, leaving over one and a half million candidates below that mark.
Of those, 97 were caught cheating during the exam itself, and another 2,157 were facing ongoing investigations for malpractice, including biometric discrepancies. In addition, 71,701 candidates were absentoften due to fingerprint issues.
- Following the UTME resit in May 2025, JAMB withdrew results of more than 3,000 candidates had their results withdrawn after a resit exercise that followed technical errors affecting 379,997 candidates across 157 centres in Lagos and the South-East.
- JAMB identified widespread biometric fraud in the 2025 UTME, including identity theft, altered fingerprints, and 244 cases of WhatsApp runs distributing leaked questions
- The board flagged a disturbing trend involving Pairing of Candidates with professional mercenaries (after willful disruption of sitting arrangements) who had registered for the UTME for the purpose of gaining access to the examination hall.
JAMB also expressed concern over the involvement of undergraduate students from tertiary institutions in orchestrating these illicit schemes, further complicating efforts to maintain exam integrity. The board noted that as the investigation progresses, all candidates implicated in these unwholesome activities will have their results withdrawn as soon as incontrovertible proofs are established, even if the results have been released.
