Over 6,000 instances of technology-enabled malpractice in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination have been found by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) Special Committee on Examination Infractions.
Dr. Jake Epelle, the chairman of the committee, revealed the results during Monday’s report presentation in Abuja.
Epelle discovered that 1,878 candidates erroneously claimed to be albinos, while others engaged in biometric fraud and digital identity manipulation during the performance of the examination.
The panel also recorded many examples of bogus National Identification Numbers, credential forgery, and syndicate-backed fraud operations.
Exam malpractice has evolved into “a highly organized, technology-driven, and culturally normalized enterprise,” he claims.
“We documented 4,251 cases of ‘finger blending,’ 190 cases of AI-assisted image morphing, 1,878 false declarations of albinism, and numerous cases of credential forgery, multiple NIN registrations, and solicitation schemes,” he said, going into detail about the violations. Candidates are not the only ones responsible for this fraud; syndicates comprising some CBT centers, educational institutions, parents, tutors, and even technological accomplices support it.
The committee also emphasized that public confidence in the examination system is already being damaged and cautioned that current regulatory frameworks are still unable to handle the growing threat of biometric and digital fraud.
The panel recommended that JAMB “implement dual verification systems, real-time monitoring, a National Examination Security Operations Center, and AI-powered biometric anomaly detection.”
The board should “cancel results of confirmed fraudulent candidates, impose bans of 1 to 3 years, prosecute both candidates and their collaborators, and create a Central Sanctions Registry accessible to institutions and employers,” according to the statement.
Additionally, the research recommended that JAMB “ban bulk school-led registrations, digitize correction workflows, tighten disability verification, and strengthen mobile-first self-service platforms.”
Additionally, it called for legal reform, including changes to the Examination Malpractice Act and the JAMB Act “to recognize biometric and digital fraud, and provide for a Legal Unit within JAMB.”
The Special Committee was established by JAMB on August 18 with the goal of looking into, evaluating, and suggesting ways to stop the growing trend of exam misconduct made possible by technology.
