The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the prosecution of five suspects who allegedly forged 17,417 tertiary institution admission letters.
According to Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s spokesperson, the suspects confessed to the crime and are currently facing prosecution at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Their arrest was made possible through collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre following a detailed investigation.
Benjamin stated that 17,417 candidates were identified as beneficiaries of the fraudulent admission scheme.
Out of that number, 6,903 candidates were cleared by the board after being directed to rectify minor discrepancies between 2024 and May 2025.
However, 10,514 candidates were referred to designated police investigation offices.
Among them, 5,669 candidates were confirmed to have deliberately procured forged admission letters.
An additional 4,832 candidates were found to have gained admission that was not disclosed to JAMB. These cases are now undergoing regularisation by their institutions under a ministerial waiver covering 2017–2020.
Benjamin noted that some candidates bypassed official procedures and engaged the forgery syndicate to avoid proper regularisation channels.
Thirteen other cases involved candidate errors or administrative oversights. Of these, 12 candidates were from the 2017 admission cycle, when JAMB’s Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) was introduced to standardise admission processes.
JAMB warned that any candidate found to have engaged with or sought help from examination or certificate fraudsters will be prosecuted.
“Candidates who deviate from the laid-down procedures for registration, examination, or admission will face the consequences,” the board said.
JAMB introduced CAPS in 2017 to streamline and regulate tertiary admissions. Admissions granted outside the CAPS framework were classified as “undisclosed” or “illegal”.
While admissions from 2017 to 2020 were temporarily regularised through a ministerial waiver, JAMB reiterated that any admissions conducted outside CAPS since 2020 are considered illegal and cannot be regularised.