The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced plans to accredit 1,039 Computer-Based Test centres nationwide ahead of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
JAMB Registrar, Professor Is’haq Oloyede, disclosed this on Wednesday in Ilorin while supervising an accreditation exercise across selected CBT centres.
According to him, 52 accreditation teams have been deployed nationwide to either revalidate existing centres or disqualify those that fail to meet the board’s standards.
Oloyede stressed that accreditation is conducted annually to ensure strict compliance with JAMB’s requirements, noting that approval in previous years does not automatically guarantee eligibility.
“The fact that a centre qualified last year does not mean it qualifies this year,” he said.
Describing the exercise as largely satisfactory, the registrar noted that only a few centres previously linked to examination malpractice had attempted to return under different arrangements.
“Some centres that were implicated in malpractice last year, not in Kwara State, have tried to repackage themselves by moving operations from one centre to another,” he explained.
He added that JAMB has intensified collaboration with the Corporate Affairs Commission to stop operators of blacklisted centres from re-entering the system.
“We have worked with the CAC so that once you are listed as a director of a failed CBT centre, you cannot resurface anywhere in the country. We now have access to directors’ details, including their NIN, to block such attempts,” Oloyede said.
He further disclosed that staff and examination officials previously involved in malpractice have also been permanently barred from participating in future UTME exercises.
“All those involved have their NINs flagged. If they move to another centre, that centre will automatically be disqualified,” he added.
Oloyede also revealed that computer systems used by delisted centres have been completely banned from the JAMB platform.
“Once a computer set is traced to a centre we have delisted, it will never be allowed back into our system, even if sold to another CBT centre,” he said.
He noted that some breaches had already been detected and that security agencies had been invited to investigate, stressing that such actions amount to violations of Nigerian law, not just JAMB regulations.
On accreditation requirements, the Chief Technical Adviser to the Kwara accreditation team, Professor Veronica Mejabi, said centres must meet both technical and welfare standards.
“The most critical technical requirement is the use of the approved network topology to allow for quick fault resolution during examinations,” she said.
She added that centres must also provide reliable alternative power sources such as inverters and generators, while welfare requirements include waiting areas for candidates, adequate toilet facilities and functional CCTV systems for monitoring.
Also speaking, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Wahab Egbewole (SAN), who led one of the validation teams, warned candidates against engaging in examination malpractice.
“If you cheat, you will be caught, and once you are caught, that is the end,” he cautioned.
