JAMB Orders Institutions to Reveal Illegal Admissions

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has instructed all higher institutions in Nigeria to disclose details of any candidates admitted illegally before 2017 within the next month, or face potential sanctions and denial of recognition.

Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, announced this directive during a briefing at the board’s Abuja headquarters on Sunday.

Benjamin explained that the board has decided to cease accepting undocumented illegal admissions through the “Condonment of Illegal Admissions” window without a registration number. This move aims to combat unauthorized admissions, prevent record falsification, and enforce compliance with the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).

He noted that institutions had previously been asked to disclose all illegitimate admissions made outside of CAPS between 2017 and 2020 due to abuse of the condonment process.

“This directive follows a waiver issued by the former Minister of Education, which allowed institutions to transition to conducting admissions exclusively through CAPS starting in 2020. We had opened a window for condonment of undisclosed illegal admissions between 2017 and 2020. Unfortunately, some institutions continued to admit candidates outside CAPS and then sought to backdate these admissions to fit within the condonment period, which is unacceptable,” Benjamin said.

He emphasized that CAPS is the only authorized platform for admissions, and institutions that fail to disclose illegal admissions within the next month will forfeit their opportunity for a waiver.

The disclosure period began on August 1.

Benjamin also warned against unrecognized part-time programs and admissions practices not approved by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) or the National Universities Commission (NUC), such as “daily part-time” programs and “Top-up” degrees.

He reiterated that such programs are not recognized within Nigeria’s education system and any attempt to use them for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) enrollment would be invalid.

Additionally, Benjamin confirmed that for the 2024 admission cycle, only candidates who are at least 16 years old at the time of admission will be considered eligible, in line with the 6-3-3-4 policy set to be enforced from 2025.