The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has warned candidates against accepting admissions offered outside its Central Admissions Processing System, declaring such admissions illegal and ineligible for official recognition.
The warning was issued on Wednesday by JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr Fabian Benjamin, during the 2026 Annual Education Summit organised by the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria in Abuja.
Benjamin said only admissions processed through CAPS and backed by an official JAMB admission letter are valid, stressing that candidates admitted through any other process risk being excluded from the board’s official matriculation list.
“For you to be regarded as duly admitted, you must print your JAMB admission letter. If an institution gives you admission through the back door without JAMB documentation, that is an illegal admission,” he said.
He explained that once a candidate accepts admission on CAPS and prints the admission letter, the details are automatically transferred to JAMB’s matriculation list, which serves as the official record of legally admitted students.
Benjamin also cautioned tertiary institutions against exceeding their approved admission quotas, noting that any admission beyond the authorised carrying capacity would not be recognised.
“If a programme is approved to admit 50 students, it cannot admit 51. That extra candidate becomes an illegal admission because the name will not appear on the matriculation list,” he said.
He urged candidates to verify the authenticity of their admissions through CAPS rather than relying solely on institutions, warning that failure to do so could leave them stranded.
The JAMB spokesperson further advised candidates to safeguard their SIM cards, describing them as key identity tools in Nigeria’s computer-based examination system.
He added that CAPS has improved transparency in the admission process by allowing candidates to monitor their admission status, compare scores and make informed decisions on institutions and courses.
Meanwhile, the National Universities Commission announced plans to intensify monitoring of universities to curb illegal admissions beyond approved carrying capacities.
Represented by Malam Lawal Faruk at the summit, the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, said the commission would conduct post-matriculation inspections to verify that universities comply with their approved admission quotas.
“We are determined to stop the abuse. After every matriculation exercise, NUC will visit universities to verify that institutions have not exceeded their approved admission quotas,” he said.
Ribadu said the commission was also seeking tougher sanctions through the ongoing amendment of the NUC Act to deter institutions from violating admission regulations.
He added that the NUC had introduced a national Artificial Intelligence policy for universities and would begin annual compliance assessments to ensure institutions adopt ethical AI practices in teaching, learning and research.
According to him, universities will be required to submit annual implementation reports, while lecturers will receive training to effectively manage AI-driven learning environments.
The NUC also disclosed that it is working with universities to automate transcript processing, strengthen entrepreneurship education, promote job fairs and implement national guidelines on micro-credentials to improve graduate employability.
Ribadu clarified that the Federal Government’s moratorium on private universities applies only to new licence applications and does not affect institutions already undergoing the approval process.