JAMB to accredit 1,039 CBT centres for 2026 UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced plans to accredit a total of 1,039 computer-based test centres nationwide for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is’haq Oloyede, disclosed this to The PUNCH on Wednesday in Ilorin during an accreditation tour of CBT centres.

Oloyede also said that 52 examination teams had been deployed across the country to re-accredit centres or disqualify those that failed to meet the board’s standards.

“The board is planning to accredit a total of 1,039 computer-based test centres across the country for the 2026 examination.

“We have 52 teams deployed nationwide to carry out this exercise of reaccrediting and, in some cases, disqualifying centres that fail to meet our standards,” he said.

Oloyede explained that the annual accreditation exercise was necessary to ensure compliance with laid-down requirements, stressing that past approval did not guarantee continued eligibility.

“The fact that you qualified last year does not mean you qualify this year,” he said.

The registrar described the exercise as “so far, so good,” adding that only a few previously implicated centres had attempted to resurface.

“Some centres that were implicated in examination malpractice last year — not in Kwara State, though — have repackaged themselves this year, moving from one centre to another,” he said.

Oloyede also said JAMB had strengthened its collaboration with the Corporate Affairs Commission to prevent operators of blacklisted centres from re-entering the system.

“We have liaised with the CAC so that once you are a director of a failed CBT centre, you cannot resurrect anywhere in the country. We now have access to directors’ details, including their NINs, to prevent abuse,” he said.

He added that staff and proctors previously implicated in malpractice had also been barred from participating in future examinations.

“All individuals involved have their NINs flagged. If they move elsewhere, they will destroy that centre because we will not approve it,” Oloyede said.

The registrar further disclosed that computers used in delisted centres had also been permanently barred from the JAMB system.

“Once a computer set is found belonging to a centre we have delisted, it can never come back to our system, even if sold to another CBT centre,” he said.

According to him, JAMB had detected a few breaches and had invited security agencies to investigate, noting that such actions were not only infractions against the board but also violations of Nigerian law.

Speaking on the accreditation requirements, the Chief Technical Adviser to the accreditation team in Kwara State, Prof. Veronica Mejabi, said CBT centres must meet both hard and soft criteria.

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“The most important hard criterion is the implementation of a specified network topology to ensure quick troubleshooting during examinations,” she said.

She added that centres must also provide alternative power sources such as inverters and generators, while soft criteria include holding areas for candidates, adequate toilet facilities and the installation of CCTV cameras for monitoring.

Also speaking, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, who led one of the validation teams and warned candidates against examination malpractice.

“If you cheat, you will be caught, and when you are caught, that is the end,” he cautioned.