The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has identified Anambra and Lagos as the states with the highest number of suspects involved in malpractice during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
According to data released by JAMB, 80 suspects are currently under police investigation for various forms of examination fraud, with Anambra leading the chart with 14 arrests. The suspects are being held for offences ranging from impersonation to biometric fraud.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed the development during a press briefing at the board’s headquarters in Abuja, noting that new and sophisticated cheating techniques were uncovered during both registration and examination periods.
“These include identity theft and biometric fraud, where some CBT centres colluded with candidates and impersonators to use combined thumbprints during registration,” Oloyede said. “We also discovered double registrations and attempts by candidates to substitute themselves with impersonators.”
In Anambra, out of the 14 suspects, 13 were arrested for impersonation while one was caught for a case of picture mismatch. Lagos followed closely behind on the list, though the exact number of its suspects was not specified at the briefing.
Oloyede described the findings as deeply troubling, particularly because the fraud involved systemic collaboration between candidates and officials at some computer-based testing (CBT) centres.
