UTME Fraud: Parents Responsible for 80% of Exam Infractions, Says JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has attributed the majority of fraudulent practices in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to parents, revealing that they account for 80 percent of reported infractions.

This was disclosed on Monday by the Chairman of JAMB’s Special Committee on Examination Infractions, Jake Epelle, while presenting the committee’s report to the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, in Abuja.

Epelle explained that aside from parents, tutorial centres, schools, and some Computer-Based Test (CBT) operators were also implicated in schemes designed to compromise the integrity of the examination.

Speaking later on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Epelle said:

“Eighty per cent of these infractions are caused by parents who want to give marks to their children that they don’t deserve.”

According to him, the committee uncovered 4,251 cases of “finger blending”, 190 cases of AI-assisted impersonation through image morphing, as well as 1,878 false disability claims, forged credentials, multiple National Identification Number (NIN) registrations, and candidate-syndicate collusion.

He warned that the increasing reliance on advanced technology to perpetrate malpractice is creating new challenges for examination integrity.

“This is the age of AI, and while JAMB deploys state-of-the-art systems, there are people behind the scenes — smart young Nigerians — consistently conspiring to undermine the process,” he noted.

Epelle stressed the need for homegrown technological solutions adapted to Nigeria’s environment.

“Every technology has its own glitches, and that is why I am a proponent of adaptive technology. We need solutions designed for our context and the peculiar issues we face,” he added.

He, however, assured that JAMB, under the leadership of Prof. Oloyede, remains resolute in protecting the credibility of its examinations.

“The Registrar will not condone any act that encourages malpractice,” Epelle affirmed.