The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has directed tertiary institutions found to have violated admission guidelines to immediately cancel and reverse such admissions. The Board said investigations revealed cases where candidates with higher rankings were reportedly ignored in favour of applicants with lower scores, a practice it described as a clear breach of the rules governing entry into higher institutions in Nigeria.
The directive was contained in JAMB’s weekly bulletin issued on Monday in Abuja and signed by the Board’s Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin. According to the bulletin, JAMB had received reports of questionable admission decisions by some institutions, prompting swift intervention. The Board stated that affected schools have been formally warned and instructed to undo the irregular admissions without delay.
“JAMB has drawn the attention of the affected institutions to these infractions and directed the immediate reversal of such admissions,” the bulletin noted, while stressing the need for strict compliance with established admission procedures.
JAMB explained that admissions into tertiary institutions are guided by a structured three-tier system comprising Merit, Catchment Area and Educationally Less Developed States. At every stage of the process, ranking remains the key criterion for selection. The Board emphasised that candidates must be admitted strictly in order of merit within each category, adding that any instance where a higher-ranked candidate is skipped in favour of a lower-ranked one will not be tolerated.
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In a related development, JAMB addressed a complaint by a candidate who claimed she was unfairly denied admission to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, despite her high score. The Board clarified that its review showed the candidate was not discriminated against, as several applicants with higher rankings were ahead of her. JAMB explained that the candidate’s non-admission was consistent with due process, as her ranking did not place her within the admission cut off for the programme.
While acknowledging that some institutions had indeed breached admission rules, the Board clarified that the complainant was not among those affected by the identified violations. Reaffirming its commitment to transparency and fairness, JAMB stressed that it would continue to ensure that no candidate with a higher ranking is displaced by a lower-ranked applicant during the admission process.
The Board also advised candidates to exercise caution when engaging with admission-related claims on social media, urging them to seek clarification through official channels rather than promoting unverified allegations.
