JAMB releases mop-up UTME results, uncovers over 5,600 fake admissions
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it has released the results of the mop-up unified tertiary matriculation examination (UTME) held on June 28.
In a statement on Sunday, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB spokesperson, said the results of 11,161 candidates who sat for the exam instead of the 96,838 scheduled have been released.
Benjamin added that candidates who are not able to access their results did not comply with the instruction to send “UTMERESULT” (as one-word text) to 55019/66019 from the same phone number (SIM) with which they registered for the UTME.
He noted that the board uncovered a syndicate that forged fake admission letters for candidates.
“You will recall that a joint press conference between the PPRO of the Nigeria Police Force and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board was convened on 13th April 2024,” the statement reads.
“It was the outcome of the complaint of JAMB that a syndicate had engaged in the fabrication of JAMB admission letters for interested candidates in exchange for a fee, following which a comprehensive investigation was launched.
“With the assistance of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), the police successfully apprehended the 5 ringleaders behind the scam.
“The five arrested ringleaders confessed to producing the fake admission letters and are currently being prosecuted at the FHC, Abuja.”
The JAMB spokesperson said 17,417 candidates were flagged as beneficiaries following the confession of the leaders of the syndicate.
He said a report by the board to the federal ministry of education showed that 6,903 candidates with minor discrepancies were cleared, leaving behind 10,514 who had been referred to their nearest designated police investigation offices.
Benjamin noted that 5,669 candidates among 10,514 were confirmed to have outrightly procured forged letters.
“In addition, a total of 1,532 candidates, whose essential defence (though difficult to believe) was that they were not a party to the commissioning of the syndicate that helped facilitate their admission letters, are hereby warned and condoned because their institutions had eventually processed their condonement of initially undisclosed admission—a procedure the candidates initially attempted to side-step,” he said.
“Thus, 3,300 candidates who are not processed for illegitimate or undisclosed admission by their claimed institutions remain under investigation.
“The Board’s screening processes continue, and any candidate found to have employed or solicited assistance from examination and certificate fraudsters or deviated from laid-down procedures for registration, examination, or admission would continue to face the consequences, which include prosecution under the Examination Malpractices Act, which prescribes appropriate punishment even for the underaged and their culpable mentors, guardians, or parents.”
