NIGERIA: JAMB Releases Mop-Up UTME Results, Clears 8,435 In Fake Admission Scandal

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the release of results for its mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), conducted on Saturday, June 28, 2025.

According to a statement issued by the board’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, a total of 11,161 results have been released out of the 96,838 candidates scheduled to sit the examination.

The statement reads: “Candidates who are not able to access their results have been found not to have fully complied with the instruction to send ‘UTMERESULT’ (as one word text) to 55019/66019 from the same phone number (SIM) with which they registered for the UTME.”

In a related development, JAMB also provided an update on its ongoing investigation into the fabrication of fake admission letters, a scheme uncovered in 2024.

The board recalled a joint press conference held on April 13, 2024, with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), where it disclosed that a syndicate was caught producing fraudulent JAMB admission letters in exchange for money.

The statement read: “With the assistance of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), the police successfully apprehended the five ring-leaders behind the scam”.

It continued: “The five arrested ring-leaders confessed to producing the fake admission letters and are currently being prosecuted at the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, in the case between Inspector General of Police Vs Effa Leonard and four Others.

Following the confession from the syndicate, a total of 17,417 candidates were flagged as beneficiaries.”

Between 2024 and May 2025, JAMB said it had cleared 6,903 candidates among those flagged after rectifying minor discrepancies in their records.

The remaining 10,514 candidates were referred to designated police investigation offices for further scrutiny.

Of these, 5,669 candidates were confirmed to have outrightly procured forged admission letters, while 4,832 candidates were identified as having engaged the syndicate to bypass a “condonement” process already being handled by their institutions under a ministerial waiver (2017–2020).

An additional 13 candidates were flagged due to acts of omission or commission. The board said these 13 registered in 2017, the year the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) was introduced.

The institutions involved include: Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ekiti State University (EKSU), Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Lagos, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Osun State Polytechnic, Ire, Ben Idahosa University, Benin City, Edo State, Obong University, Obong Ntak, Akwa Ibom State and University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

The board further stated: “In continuation of the screening process, the management of the board at its meeting on July 5, 2025 decided that the 13 candidates flagged through one act of commission/omission or the other on the candidates’ part, should be requested to rectify their specific anomalies and proceed to print their new letters of admission as they belong to the batch of 6,903 earlier condoned.”

JAMB also said 1,532 candidates had been condoned after providing defences, albeit “difficult to believe,” that they were unaware the syndicate was involved in their admission letters. These candidates have since had their admissions properly processed by their institutions.

Meanwhile, 3,300 candidates remain under investigation as their admissions have yet to be processed through legitimate channels.

JAMB warned that it would continue to sanction candidates who engage in irregular practices.

“The board’s screening processes continue and any candidate found to have employed or solicited assistance from examination and certificate fraudsters or deviated from laid down procedures for registration, examination or admission would continue to face the consequences which include prosecution under the Examination Malpractices Act which prescribes appropriate punishment even for the under-aged and their culpable mentors, guardians or parents,” the statement concluded.