JAMB uncovers 585 forged A-level certificates in 2025

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has revealed that it uncovered 585 forged A-Level certificates so far in 2025. This alarming discovery was disclosed by the Registrar of the Board, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, during a virtual meeting with JAMB staff held to prepare for the upcoming Mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and UTME itself.

In his remarks, Professor Oloyede condemned the rising trend of certificate forgery, which he described as a serious threat to the integrity of Nigeria’s education system. He highlighted that JAMB established the Nigeria Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (NIPED) to curb this menace. The system aims to ensure stricter verification processes for certificates submitted during admission applications.

Among the forged documents discovered, 13 involved fake Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB) certificates. The IJMB qualification allows students to gain direct entry admission into the second year of Nigerian universities without taking the UTME. These forged certificates were uploaded by Professional Registration Centres, and investigations are currently underway.

Professor Oloyede revealed that four individuals implicated in these cases have been apprehended and are cooperating with law enforcement agencies to identify and dismantle the examination cartels responsible for these fraudulent activities. Preliminary findings suggest that internal collaborators within institutions may be aiding and abetting these schemes.

Beyond certificate forgery, JAMB has also received reports of extortion at some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres. Candidates have allegedly been charged for services that are supposed to be free. Professor Oloyede described these revelations as “mind-boggling” and warned that such practices could undermine public trust in Nigeria’s admission system.

He urged JAMB staff to remain committed to upholding the Board’s integrity and cautioned against any actions that could compromise its mission.

This is not the first time JAMB has faced issues related to forged certificates. In 2024, during Direct Entry registration, the Board detected 1,665 counterfeit A-Level results. Of these, 397 originated from Colleges of Education, 453 from university diplomas, while others came from various advanced-level qualifications. At Bayero University Kano, only six out of 148 certificates submitted for Direct Entry were found to be genuine.

To address this challenge, JAMB has emphasized stricter verification processes through its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS). Institutions admitting students without verifying their results through CAPS may be deemed complicit in result falsification.