The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has given tertiary institutions one month to disclose all candidates illegally admitted before 2017.
JAMB Registrar Is-haq Oloyede gave the directive at a press conference on Sunday, August 4, 2024, in Abuja, saying the decision would end the ‘confinement of illegal admissions without a registration number.
Mr Oloyede, a professor, cited widespread abuse of the window used to absorb illegal admissions conducted before 2017.
Mr Oloyede, represented by the agency’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, added that the position is informed by the “discovery of widespread and unwholesome practices whereby some institutions colluded with candidates to falsify vital details, such as backdated year of entry and age-adjustments, to facilitate illegal admissions and enable fake candidates to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
He said: “It would be recalled that CAPS was introduced in 2017 to ensure accuracy, records, transparency, accountability, fairness, and equity in admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The window (for mop-up of pre-2017 unofficial/unregistered admission) has been on now for seven years and it is now being abused.”
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To address the challenge, he said the board has directed all institutions to disclose all candidates illegally admitted before 2017 within the next one month, beginning from August 1, 2024.
“Any admission given before 2017 will no longer be recognized or condoned unless disclosed within this window. Institutions are advised to comply with this directive, as there will be no further confinement of unrecorded candidates who did not register with JAMB or sit for any entrance examination,” he added.
He noted that the move is aimed at curbing illegal admissions and falsifying records while ensuring compliance with the provision of CAPS.
Part-time, Top-up programmes
JAMB condemned the “Daily-Part-Time” (DPT) and “Top-up” (TU) programmes being offered by some polytechnics and universities, describing them as “fraudulent devices” aimed at side-lining quality and approved quota for full-time admission.
Mr. Benjamin gave a recent example of the advertisement by Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa, in Oyo State, inviting candidates to apply for its two-year daily part-time (DPT) programme.
He noted that the National Board does not approve such programmes for Technical Education (NBTE) or the National Universities Commission (NUC).
He said: “Part-time programmes are strictly regulated, allowing institutions to admit only up to 150 percent of the approved full-time capacity. However, some institutions have been found to admit an excessive number of candidates through this unrecognized DPT programme, merging them with full-time students in classrooms and purporting to graduate them simultaneously with full-time students. This practice undermines the integrity of our educational system under the guise of revenue generation.
JAMB, however, advised candidates to avoid such programmes, as they are not recognized and will not be tolerated under any regularization.
Candidates admitted outside CAPS
JAMB further reminded institutions to disclose candidates admitted outside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) between 2017 and 2020.
The Board warned that failure to comply would result in termination of the confinement process.
“This directive followed the waiver, on the recommendation of JAMB, by the former Minister of Education, which allowed institutions to transition to conducting all admissions exclusively through the CAPS platform starting in 2020. We then opened the window of Condoment of Undisclosed Institutional Illegal Admissions (2017 -2020) (CUIIA),” he said
He added that the board is consequently terminating the aspect of the CUIIA process, which allows completely unregistered candidates (without registration) to be introduced to the system.
“CAPS is the only authorized platform for admissions. Those who even have registration but were illegally admitted between the period (2017 – 2020) would soon be denied the opportunity of the waiver unless they are disclosed within the next month.
