Over 80% of Candidates Absent As JAMB Conducts Mop-Up UTME
Over 80 per cent of the 98,232 candidates eligible for Saturday’s nationwide mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) failed to show up, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said.
The Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, who monitored the exercise in Abuja, attributed the low turnout to heightened security measures targeting impersonators and examination cheats.
He disclosed that only a little over 12,000 candidates actually sat for the mop-up exam across the country.
Oloyede explained that mop-up exams are usually conducted for 4,000 to 5,000 candidates who missed the main UTME due to verified illness or technical challenges.
“This year, we decided to open the window wider due to reports of widespread absences during the main examination. But out of 98,000 who registered, only about 12,000 turned up,” he said.
He hinted that results of the mop-up exam, expected by Saturday, might be delayed until Monday to allow for further scrutiny and removal of fraudulent entries.
“Some candidates have already been picked up. This exercise has helped us fish out impersonators. The turnout was far below expectation because we believe most of those who failed to appear had something to hide,” he added.
The JAMB boss revealed that some CBT centres expecting 250 candidates per session recorded fewer than 20 attendees.
He blamed a syndicate network of tutorial centres and private school owners for encouraging exam malpractice.
Oloyede also said the board uncovered a ploy by candidates attempting to game the facial recognition system by falsely declaring themselves as albinos.
“In previous years, we never had up to 100 albinos. This year, 1,787 candidates claimed to be albinos. One centre alone registered 450,” he said.
He added that further investigation showed that only about 250 true albinos registered.
“We arrested a black man in Benin claiming to be an albino. It’s a strategy to beat the AI system using photo blending for impersonation.”
He warned that those who failed to show up after alleging exclusion from the main UTME would still face consequences.
“We have their names, schools, NINs and phone numbers. Security agencies are already making arrests,” he said.
Oloyede also revealed that 14 Direct Entry applicants had been caught using fake certificates in 2025.
He accused institutions of aiding such fraud and cited a case where a student who finished secondary school in 2021 was said to have enrolled in an NCE programme in 2020.
“We found that institutions are awarding NCE certificates to candidates who never enrolled. This is to bypass restrictions after JAMB closed entry into illegal admissions granted between 2017 and 2020,” he said.
He warned that all institutions involved would be made to face consequences.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
