The Federal Government has declared that any admission into Nigerian universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education not processed through the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) is illegal.
This was announced by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, during the 2025 JAMB policy meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday.
Dr Alausa emphasised that the government is intensifying efforts to strengthen transparency, fairness, and accountability in Nigeria’s tertiary education system. He warned vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and governing council members to strictly adhere to the approved processes.
“Any admission conducted outside CAPS, regardless of its intentions, is illegal.
“Both institutions and the candidates involved in such practices will be held accountable.
“Sanctions may include withdrawal of institutional assets and prosecution of culpable officers or governing council members,” the minister said.
He explained that although the initiation of admissions lies with the academic boards of tertiary institutions, JAMB, as the statutory regulatory body, is mandated to oversee and regulate the process.
About CAPS
The Central Admissions Processing System, known as CAPS, is an online platform introduced by JAMB in 2017 to reform how students gain admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Before CAPS, the process was largely manual, leaving room for corruption, favouritism, and backdoor admissions. CAPS was designed to fix that. It automates the entire admission process from institution uploads to candidate acceptance, ensuring that only qualified candidates are selected based on merit, choice, and institutional capacity.
By removing human interference, CAPS streamlines the system and eliminates administrative bottlenecks that once plagued university admissions.
The Minister of Education stated that the Ministry, in collaboration with JAMB, will step up monitoring efforts to ensure that all institutions strictly comply with this directive.
Low student intake despite available capacity
Dr Alausa presented new data highlighting a troubling mismatch between available admission slots and actual student intake, particularly in critical programmes like agriculture, education, engineering, and the health sciences.
He said institutions across the country have the capacity to admit more students but are falling short, calling for efforts to bridge this gap.
According to him, more than 120 universities received fewer than 50 applications during the current admission cycle, prompting concerns about how resources are being utilised.
He stated that the issue is not about access, but about realigning and strengthening the existing institutions, adding that the current trend of establishing new universities without consolidating the old ones is unsustainable.
More insights
The Minister also reaffirmed the continued use of the National Identification Number (NIN) in the JAMB registration process. He noted that this requirement plays a critical role in safeguarding the integrity of the admission system.
“The NIN requirement has proven vital in safeguarding the integrity of our admission system by curbing identity fraud and multiple registrations,” Alausa said.
He stressed that any abuse of the NIN system would be promptly detected and penalised.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, Senator Shuaib Salisu, called for stringent sanctions against institutions and administrators that circumvent the official admission process.
Salisu proposed the criminalisation of fraudulent admission practices and warned institutions that manipulate loopholes in the system to deceive students.
He condemned scenarios where students unknowingly pursue illegitimate academic programmes for years.
He assured stakeholders that the Senate Committee would explore legislative actions to hold admission officers and institutional management accountable.
