The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has firmly dismissed reports suggesting that candidates who have already matriculated or are currently studying in universities are prohibited from sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), describing such claims as false and deliberately misleading.
Speaking in Port Harcourt during a monitoring visit to the ongoing UTME registration exercise, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyode, said the misinformation was being spread by fraudsters with the intent to deceive unsuspecting candidates and the public. The visit followed his attendance at the second matriculation ceremony of Wigwe University.
According to Prof. Oloyode, there is no policy preventing undergraduates or previously admitted students from writing the UTME. He stressed that individuals spreading contrary narratives are not officials of the examination body. He revealed that some impostors had gone as far as organizing press briefings while posing as JAMB officials, including falsely claiming to speak on behalf of the Registrar.
Oloyode disclosed that one of the key figures behind the misinformation had already been arrested, alongside collaborators involved in producing fake identity cards to lend credibility to their actions.
Clarifying JAMB’s official position, the Registrar explained that students who have already gained admission into tertiary institutions retain the right to apply again if they wish to change their course, institution, or even start afresh entirely. What the Board insists on, he said, is transparency and full disclosure of previous admission or registration history to ensure accurate data management.
He noted that in the last admission cycle alone, over 800,000 candidates were admitted, with many later seeking to change their academic direction. Without proper disclosure, he warned, the system risks admitting candidates multiple times without reliable reconciliation of records.
While undergraduates are free to register and sit for UTME, Oloyode emphasized that no candidate is allowed to run two undergraduate programmes simultaneously.
On the issue of examination malpractice, the JAMB Registrar acknowledged that although the menace has not been completely eradicated, it is steadily declining. He assured that the Board continues to deploy advanced measures to counter new cheating tactics introduced by candidates.
Oloyode also cautioned parents against encouraging dishonest practices, urging them to instill values of integrity in their children. He warned that corruption, if tolerated at home, risks being transferred from one generation to the next.
Addressing concerns over JAMB’s preparedness, he explained that challenges experienced in 2025 were the result of negligence that had since been addressed. He dismissed claims that certain categories of candidates, including albinos, would be excluded from registration, describing such reports as false and noting that identified loopholes had been closed.
The Registrar revealed that there are currently about 984 accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres across the country, with plans to increase the number to about 1,000. He reiterated that the UTME registration exercise would close on February 28, with no extension planned.