2025 UTME: Digital exam malpractice threatens Nigeria’s education system – Oloyede

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has raised alarm over the growing sophistication of digital examination malpractice, calling for a more radical approach to tackling the menace.

Speaking in Abuja, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede described the trend as a serious threat to Nigeria’s education system, warning that the activities of high-tech exam fraudsters are capable of undermining learning, research, and national development.

Oloyede’s remarks were published in the JAMB Bulletin on Monday, June 2.

“During the 2025 examinations, further high-level malpractices were uncovered, which led to the withdrawal of some results and the arrest of several culprits across the country,” he revealed.

He disclosed that over 3,000 candidates have been identified as either direct beneficiaries or accomplices in the fraud, which involves increasingly complex methods.

These include the use of artificial intelligence for photo-blending impersonations, combined fingerprint registration using data from multiple individuals, and the collusion of Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres with school proprietors to hack into exam networks. In some cases, networks were extended to remote “strong rooms” where mercenaries were paired with candidates to write exams on their behalf.

The registrar noted that many of the impersonators are current undergraduates, highlighting a worrying trend of active university students facilitating exam malpractice for incoming candidates.

Oloyede criticised the public for downplaying the issue, saying that while the country’s future is being threatened by digital fraudsters, some people continue to focus on conspiracy theories instead of supporting urgent reforms.

The federal government had, on May 27, ordered a nationwide crackdown on so-called miracle centres and imposed a three-year ban on candidates found guilty of exam malpractice.