The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has given schools a one-month ultimatum to disclose all illegal admissions conducted outside its Central Admissions Processing System before 2017.
The directive, aimed at enhancing transparency and fairness in the admissions process, was announced by JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, on behalf of the board’s registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede.
According to the Public Communication Advisor, he stated in a press briefing that “The attention of the board has been drawn to the predilection of some institutions to admit candidates outside the approved Central Admissions Processing System platform and process such through the condonement of illegal admissions window to accord legitimacy.
“To close this abused window, the board has decided that all institutions should now (or never) disclose all candidates illegally admitted prior to 2017, whose records are in their system within the next one month, beginning from 1st August 2024.
According to Benjamin, the move is aimed at curbing illegal admissions and falsification of records, while ensuring compliance with the provisions of CAPS. He noted that some institutions have been colluding with candidates to falsify details for illegal admissions, leading to fraudulent participation in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
JAMB has warned that any admission purportedly given prior to 2017 will no longer be recognized or condoned unless disclosed within the one-month window.
He also stated that the board has also terminated the aspect of the Condonement of Undisclosed Illegal Institutional Admission (CUIIA) process that allows completely unregistered candidates to be introduced to the system.
In a related development, JAMB has maintained that the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions for the 2024/2025 session remains 16 years.
Benjamin said :“This decision follows the directive from the chairman of the 2024 tertiary admission policy meeting, who is also the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, that the extant policy of 6-3-3-4 be enforced only from the 2025 session.
“The alarming avalanche of obviously false affidavits and upsurge of doctored upward age adjustments on NIN slips being submitted to JAMB to upgrade recorded age is dangerous, inimical and unnecessary. Those below 16 would not and should not be admitted in accordance with the decision of the 2024 Policy Meeting,” he said.
The board has also expressed concern over the new trend of “Daily-Part-Time” and “Top Up” admissions practices by some polytechnics and universities, describing them as “fraudulent devices” aimed at side-lining quality and approved quota for full-time admission.
Benjamin warned that candidates with zero or abysmally low UTME scores are being attracted to these unrecognized programmers, which would lead to nowhere. He emphasized that part-time programmers are strictly regulated, allowing institutions to admit only up to 150 per cent of the approved full-time capacity.
