From FUTO to LAUTECH: 20 institutions caught in JAMB’s illegal admission scandal

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has uncovered 9,469 instances of illegal admissions across 20 tertiary institutions in Nigeria for the 2024 academic session.

The admissions, which were carried out outside the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS), have been declared invalid by the board.

CAPS is JAMB’s official online platform designed to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability in the admission process into Nigerian tertiary institutions.

According to the list released by JAMB, Kano State University of Science and Technology topped the offenders with 2,215 unauthorised admissions, followed by Ladoke Akintola University of Technology with 1,215.

Other institutions on the list include Gombe State University (1,164), Emmanuel Alayande University of Education (761), and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (534).

Additional institutions implicated include Ambrose Alli University, Igbinedion University, Akwa Ibom Polytechnic, Nigeria Police Academy, and multiple polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.

“Any admission conducted outside CAPS, regardless of its intentions, is illegal,” the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, declared at the 2025 JAMB policy meeting in Abuja.

He added, “Institutions and individuals found culpable will be prosecuted and severely sanctioned.”

JAMB has repeatedly warned against backdoor admissions, emphasising that students admitted outside CAPS would not be eligible for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

The board maintained that CAPS was introduced not only to ensure fairness in the admission process but also to eliminate irregularities and corruption in tertiary education admissions.

JAMB has vowed to work closely with relevant authorities to ensure that erring institutions face appropriate penalties, including withdrawal of accreditation and legal action.