00:00Nigeria examination body responsible for conducting entry examinations for secondary school students to gain admission into higher institutions of learning in the West Africa country. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAM, on Sunday says it recorded a case of Nigeria students using artificial intelligence, AI to indulge in the act of examination malpractice, specifically stating that the Nigeria students used AI to enhance photograph but JAM refused to gain admission.
00:30JAM will give further details on how the AI-enhanced photo was used to commit the examination fraud. JAM made this known in a statement issued to announce to the general public that the UTME rescheduled examination for candidates that were affected during the main exam due to hackers who allegedly caused technical problems in some centers' students sat for the exam.
00:52In a statement released on Sunday and signed by JAM's public communication advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the board disclosed that 21,082 of the 336,845 candidates scheduled for the resid were absent.
01:08Details of the statement as reported by Sahara Reporters, reads below thus.
01:14Despite the turnout shortfall, JAM noted that the performance trends among candidates who took the resid remained within expected historical ranges, citing success rates from 11% in 2013 to 34% in 2016.
01:30JAM said claims that some candidates from the cancelled session scored highly and may wish to retain their results are entirely unfounded.
01:37It noted that in reality, only a handful of candidates scored as high as 217, while 99% scored below 200, demonstrating that there were no top performers in the cancelled sessions across the six affected states.
01:53However, the release of the results has been overshadowed by fresh revelations of widespread malpractice involving candidates, school proprietors, and computer-based test CBT centers.
02:06The board's chief external examiners, CEEs, led by Professor Olufemi Peters, Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, Noun, reviewed the resid exercise and brought in psychometrics expert Professor Boniface in Wagyu to validate the results before they were released.
02:25Several critical resolutions were made during a nationwide meeting of CEEs, including the conditional release of results for underage candidates, those involved in online, WhatsApp runs, and some of those who missed the resit for valid reasons.
02:40Jam explained that underage candidates, many of whom had earlier acknowledged in writing that only those who meet academic standards would be considered for special admission, had their results released for record purposes only, and they remain ineligible for admission.
02:56Similarly, candidates found to have engaged in academic misconduct using illicit WhatsApp groups and solicitation platforms were granted a one-time waiver.
03:06The board noted that it should not be misinterpreted as condoning wrongdoing, urging candidates to avoid antisocial and fraudulent networks.
03:14A final opportunity has also been extended to absentee candidates, particularly those who missed both the main UTME and the resit, via the annual lop-up examination.
03:26Meanwhile, several CBT centers have been blacklisted for serious examination infractions, including biometric data manipulation and impersonation facilitation.
03:37Jam said the proprietors of these centers will be prosecuted, and all individuals directly involved in the fraudulent activities are being tracked.
03:47Collusion of certain CBT center, school proprietors, with the connivance of accredited centers, to hack the networks of targeted CBT centers, thereby gaining control of candidates' computers and remotely submitting their responses to the relevant local server of the center
04:03The statement read, the board raised alarm over increasingly sophisticated cheating strategies discovered during the 2025 examination cycle.
04:17These include AI-enhanced photo manipulation to enable impersonation, hacking into CBT networks, using hidden, strong rooms, to extend local network coverage, and hiring, mercenaries, to sit exams for candidates.
04:34While some Nigerians are busy dissipating energies on conspiracy theories and spread of hatred, our future is being put in jeopardy by advanced level of digitalized fraud, jam-worned, travel guides.
04:46During the 2025 examinations, further high-level malpractices were uncovered, which led to the withdrawal of some results and the arrest of several culprits across the country some of whom we understand have made useful confessions.
05:02Over 3,000 candidates have been identified as having benefited from or participated in such fraudulent practices, and Jam stated that their results will be withdrawn once investigations are concluded.
05:14The board also pushed back against tribal or sectional claims tied to the cancellation of sessions in six states, clarifying that no high scores were recorded in those sessions, as 99% of affected candidates scored below 200.
05:29In another case that drew public attention, Jam discredited a viral social media claim by one Alyssa Gabriel Chukwameka, a first-year public health student at Adekunle Adjason University, Akumbara Coco, AAUA, who falsely claimed to have scored 326 in the 2025 UTME.
05:49Investigations showed that Chukwameka had doctored his 2024 UTME result of 203 to impersonate a high-performing 2025 score.
06:01His actual 2025 result, recorded in Lagos, was 180 and has since been withdrawn.
06:08Following the expose, the student reportedly deactivated his ex, formerly Twitter, account.
06:16On complaints about result-checking costs, Jam clarified that its SMS shortcode service, 55,000 and 1966-019, is subsidized and designed to protect candidates' personal data from cybercafes and third-party platforms.
06:31Candidates were urged not to recheck already released results unless they receive a direct notification via SMS, email, or their Jam profile indicating a withdrawal due to infractions.
06:45Jam expressed appreciation to Nigeria's security agencies for their support in uncovering examination fraud.
06:52The board also thanked WEC, Amadu Bello University, the Teachers' Registration Council of Nigeria, and the National Examinations Council for adjusting their own exam schedules to accommodate the resit.
07:05The board commended the resilience of affected candidates and reaffirmed its commitment to a technology-driven, fair, and credible examination process.
07:14Despite mounting challenges, Jam maintained that the CBT model remains the best option for curbing malpractice and modernizing Nigeria's education system.
07:25Dr. Fabian Benjamin concluded the statement by urging Nigerians to unite in protecting the integrity of the country's education system against increasingly sophisticated forms of cheating.
