The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has directed all institutions to disclose within one month, details of all candidates they illegally admitted prior to 2017 or risk recognition and condonment.

Dr Fabian Benjamin, the board’s Public Communication Advisor (CPA), disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the board’s headquarters on Sunday, in Abuja.

Benjamin said that the board had resolved that it would no longer entertain absorption of illegal admissions by institutions through the window of “Condonment of Illegal Admissions”, without registration number.

The move, he explained, was aimed at curbing illegal admissions, falsification of records and ensuring compliance with the provisions of Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).

He said that all institutions were being reminded that JAMB had previously requested the disclosure of all illegitimate admissions offered to candidates outside CAPS, between 2017 and 2020, due to abuse of window.

“This directive followed the waiver on recommendation of JAMB by the former Minister of Education, which allowed institutions to transit to conducting admissions exclusively through the CAPS platform in 2020.

“We then opened the window of Condonment of Undisclosed Institutional Illegal Admissions (CUIIA), 2017 to 2020.

“Regrettably, the board has observed that some institutions have continued to admit candidates outside CAPS and subsequently apply for this CUIIA.

“This is quite embarrassing that some institutions have been found to backdate such recent admissions to 2020 to fit within the time frame of CUIIA.

“Consequently, the board is terminating the aspect of CUIIA process which allows completely unregistered candidates to be introduced to the system.

“CAPS is the only authorised platform for admissions; those who have registration but were illegally admitted between 2017 to 2020 would soon be denied the opportunity of the waiver, unless they are disclosed within the next one month.”

The period of disclosure, he stated, begins from August 1.

Benjamin added that the board would not tolerate further, any undisclosed admission by any institution, while urging candidates to pursue education through legitimate and recognised means, so they don’t fall victims.

He also advised candidates seeking admissions to be cautious of illegitimate and unrecognised part-time programmes, which he added, would also not be tolerated under “regularisation or condonment.”

Benjamin stated that the board distant itself from trending and strange admissions practice by some institutions, claiming to enrol candidates into “daily part-time” by some polytechnics and “Top- up” by some universities.

“It is crucial to clarify that no such programmes are approved by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) or National Universities Commission (NUC),” he said.

Both programmes, Benjamin added, were alien to the education system in Nigeria and any attempt to enrol into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme with it would be flawed and futile.

He also reiterated the board’s decision on only candidates who were at least; 16 years old at the time of admissions would be considered eligible for the 2024 admission cycle.

This decision, he explained, followed the directive from Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education and chairman of the 2024 tertiary admissions policy meeting, that the policy of 6-3-3-4 would be enforced from 2025.

“Only those below 16 years will not and should not be admitted in accordance with the decision of the 2024 Policy meeting,” Benjamin said.

The Joint Universities Preliminary Examination Board (JUPEB) says reports that it will conduct a mock examination, following the recent postponement of its 2024 test, are untrue.

The Registrar of the board, Prof. Ademola Adeleke, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, in Lagos, that JUPEB never had such a plan.

Recall that the board had announced the postponement of its 2024 examination, earlier scheduled to run from Aug. 5 to Aug. 16.

It had rescheduled the examination to hold from Monday, Aug. 19, to Friday, Aug. 30.

Adeleke had hinged the postponement on security concerns in some states, following the #EndBadGovernance protest in the country.

“It has come to our notice that some mischief makers have been going about misinforming the public concerning our 2024 examination.

“I want to state categorically that, at no time did we propose or plan any mock examination, following the recent postponement of this year’s examination.

“I, therefore, call on our partner and affiliate universities to disregard that information, as it is not coming from the board.

“It is fake news and we know nothing about such information.

“All information concerning the board, its examination and other academic activities, are usually communicated through our official channels, the don said.

JUPEB is a national examinations body approved by the Federal Government and formally established by a consortium of 10 partnering universities led by the University of Lagos.

It conducts common and standard examinations for candidates who have been exposed to a minimum of one-year approved courses in the different Universities’s Foundation and/or Diploma Programmes.

Such candidates, through the examination, seek Direct Entry admissions into University courses at the 200 Level in Nigerian and partnering foreign universities.(

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said it will no longer entertain absorption of illegal admissions through the window ‘Condonement of Illegal Admissions Without Registration Number.’

To this end, it has terminated the Condonement of Undisclosed Institutional Illegal Admissions (2017 to 2020) (CUIIA).

Spokesperson of JAMB, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday.

According to Dr. Benjamin, the CUIIA process, which allows completely unregistered candidates without registration to be introduced to the system, has been abused by tertiary institutions.

He insisted that the only authorised platform for admissions is the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS).

The examination, therefore, gave a one-month grace for institutions of higher learning that illegally admitted students between 2017 and 2020 to do so, failing which they would face the wrath of the Board.

He said: “Regrettably, the Board has observed that some institutions continue to admit candidates outside CAPS and subsequently apply for Condonement of Undisclosed Illegal Institutional Admissions (CUIIA). Quite embarrassingly, some institutions have even been found to backdate such recent admissions to 2020 to fit within the time frame of CUIIA.

“Consequently, the Board is terminating the aspect of the CUIIA process which allows completely unregistered candidates (without registration) to be introduced to the system. CAPS is the only authorised platform for admissions. Those who even have registration but were illegally admitted between the period (2017-2020) would soon be denied the opportunity of the waiver unless they are disclosed within the next one month.

“Therefore, all institutions are hereby directed to disclose, for the final time, all candidates admitted illegally within their systems. Moving forward, the Board will not tolerate any undisclosed admission by any institution.

“Candidates are strongly advised not to accept any admission outside CAPS.”

It would be recalled that CAPS was introduced in 2017 to ensure accuracy, records, transparency, accountability, fairness, and equity in admission into tertiary institutions.

The JAMB spokesperson said the Board’s position was informed by the discovery of widespread and unwholesome practice where some institutions were colluding with candidates to falsify vital details, such as backdated year of entry and subsequent age-adjustments, to utilise certificates of genuine candidates with similar names to facilitate illegal admissions to enable the participation of fake candidates in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has given a breakdown of how it disbursed the sum of N2,026,163,340 as institutional fees to six tertiary institutions in the country.

In a post on its official X handle on Saturday, the Fund confirmed The Guardian story which listed the names of the six institutions of higher learning that got the fund.

The institutions include the University of Ibadan, Bayero University Kano, the University of Ilorin, the University of Benin, the University of Maiduguri and the Federal University of Dutsinma, Katsina State.

The Guardian observed that while Bayero University Kano received the lion’s share of N853,775,000, the University of Benin got the least amount of N24,412,500.

Managing Director of the Fund, Akintunde Sawyerr had earlier revealed that the institutional fees would cover over 20,000 students.

The Funds gave the breakdown of the amount among the six institutions as follows:

1. Bayero University Kano N853,775,000

2. University of Maiduguri N589,001,500

3. Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State, N304,961,800

4. University of Ibadan N201,114,650

5. University of Ilorin N52,897,890

6. University of Benin, N24,412,500

CREDIT: THE GUARDIAN

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it has approved student loans amounting now to over N2,530,235,750, being dispersed across many institutions, to benefit 22,120 students.

NELFUND’s spokesperson, Nasir Ayitogo, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

NELFUND revealed that six of the twelve institutions have received full payment of their institutional fees, covering over 20,000 students.

It also added the total amount disbursed to these institutions stands at approximately N2,026,163,340 while a further six will receive their payments in the coming week.

“These disbursements will ensure that Nigerian students can proceed with their academic activities unimpeded, fostering peace of mind much needed for these students and their families,” NELFUND stated.

In addition to the institutional fees, NELFUND has also commenced the payment of upkeep to students.

The agency said the initiative would provide essential financial support for living expenses and that a total of N442,400,000 would be allocated for the month of July.

“The upkeep payments will benefit all 22,120 students across the twelve institutions, with more to come in the coming weeks and months, reflecting the federal government’s commitment to the overall well-being and academic success of Nigerian students in government institutions.

“NELFUND believes that these disbursements will significantly ease the financial burdens on students and their families, enabling them to focus on their studies and future careers.”

NELFUND, however, noted that the disbursements are made based on each institution’s academic calendar (beginning of session).

It also extends its gratitude to all the participating institutions for their cooperation and dedication to this cause.

A Nigerian international student, Lola Akinlade, thought she had achieved her dream when she graduated from Nova Scotia Community College in 2019.

Her joy has now been short-lived since the day she received a letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) saying that one of the documents she’d used to enter Canada in 2016 was fake and asking her to explain herself.

“That was the beginning of my trauma,” Akinlade said in a recent interview near her home in Middle Sackville, N.S.

Akinlade wants the IRCC to re-examine her case, arguing she was the victim of a “rogue agent” who supplied her with a fake letter of acceptance to a Canadian school.

“Please look into my file,” she said. “I just want this to be sorted out.”

Statistics released to CBC by IRCC and the experience of people working in the field suggest there could be many other international students in Canada in a similar situation.

Since IRCC began a new process to screen international student acceptance letters in December 2023, it has found more than 9,000 examples of fake letters, suggesting Akinlade’s case is far from unique.

According to Akinlade, she first considered studying in Canada in 2015 while working as a medical sales representative in Lagos with a business administration degree.

She said she met with an immigration consultant who promised to help her apply for a master’s degree in business administration at a Canadian university.

Akinlade said she did not discuss a particular university with the agent and just explained that she wanted to study at a high-quality Canadian institution.

Akinlade said she gave the agent documents such as her passport and university transcripts, along with payment. Several months later, he gave her a study permit to enter Canada, plane tickets and an acceptance letter to the University of Regina.

Akinlade flew to Canada in late December 2016, anticipating starting classes in January 2017.

However, she stated that while she was stopped in Winnipeg en route to Regina, she received a call from the agent, who informed her that there were no spaces available at the university and that she would have to join a waitlist.

“I said my primary aim was to come here to study. I don’t want to be on the waitlist.”

Akinlade then sought a new programme on her own, eventually enrolling at Nova Scotia Community College for social services in September 2017.

Akinlade said she never contacted the University of Regina directly until two years later, when she received the letter from IRCC telling her the acceptance letter was a fake.

“I was kind of sceptical [after getting the IRCC letter] because I thought that wasn’t real, like a miscommunication or something,” she said. “So immediately I contacted [the] University of Regina.

“And that was when I learned the truth.”

Akinlade said since arriving in Canada, she’s had little contact with the agent in Nigeria.

But when CBC contacted Babatunde Isiaq Adegoke, the agent who coordinated Akinlade’s application, through text message, he claimed he guided Akinlade through the process of applying to enter Canada.

He agreed that he gave Akinlade the acceptance letter to the University of Regina. However, he claimed that the letter was given to him by Success Academy Education Consult, a company he had hired. He claimed it was in the city of Ejigbo but has since relocated to an unknown location.

He stated that he was surprised to learn that the acceptance letter was forged, and he denied informing Akinlade that she would have to join the University of Regina waitlist.

Adegoke told CBC he was no longer offering study permit services; he had no contact information for Success Academy Education Consult and had not dealt with the company since 2018. He declined to do a video call for more information.

Akinlade, however, has lost her study permit and was denied a post-graduate work permit and a temporary resident permit.

An IRCC officer wrote to her in March 2023, telling her the department believes she knew the document was fake, “as per balance of probabilities.”

Her husband, Samson, and their eight-year-old son, David, who joined her in 2018, also lost their temporary resident status and have been asked to leave the country voluntarily as they cannot work or go to school.

Their younger son was born in Canada in 2021, and while he has Canadian citizenship, he does not have medical coverage because of his parents’ status.

Universities Canada has also expressed concerns about the actions of these agents, who may be “swapping” students between schools to smooth entry into Canada.

“These agents really were swapping out some of those letters of acceptance later in the process and utilising the good name of a university in order to increase the chances of that student getting a study permit,” said Graham Barber, the assistant director of international relations at Universities Canada.

Akinlade’s lawyer, Amanat Sandhu, is filing a humanitarian application for the family to stay in Canada.

Sandhu said it’s common for her downtown Toronto firm to see what she describes as “rogue agents” supplying immigrants with bad information.

“Overall, there’s a lot of people that get into this sticky situation where they trust an agent and then the agent doesn’t perform the way that they’re supposed to,” she said.