By Comfort Asemota
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to accredit 1,039 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres across Nigeria for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is’haq Oloyede, disclosed this on Wednesday in Ilorin, Kwara State, during an ongoing nationwide accreditation tour of CBT centres.
According to Oloyede, the board has deployed 52 accreditation teams nationwide to reassess existing centres, approve new ones, and disqualify centres that fail to meet JAMB’s operational standards.
“JAMB is planning to accredit a total of 1,039 CBT centres nationwide for the 2026 UTME. We have 52 teams carrying out re-accreditation and disqualification where necessary,” he said.
The registrar explained that the annual accreditation exercise is mandatory to ensure strict compliance with JAMB’s requirements, stressing that approval in previous years does not guarantee continued eligibility.
“The fact that a centre qualified last year does not mean it qualifies this year,” Oloyede noted.
He described the process as largely successful so far, adding that only a few centres previously implicated in examination malpractice had attempted to re-enter the system by changing locations or ownership.
To curb such practices, Oloyede revealed that JAMB has strengthened collaboration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to block operators of blacklisted centres from resurfacing.
“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 National Identification Numbers (NINs),” he said.
He added that staff and examination proctors previously involved in malpractice have also been permanently barred from participating in future UTME exercises, while computers from delisted centres have been blacklisted from the JAMB system.
“Once a computer set belongs to a delisted centre, it can never be used again for JAMB examinations, even if sold to another CBT centre,” Oloyede stated.
The registrar further disclosed that security agencies have been invited to investigate detected breaches, noting that such violations are not only against JAMB regulations but also against Nigerian law.
Speaking on 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.
She explained that key requirements include a specified network topology for efficient troubleshooting, alternative power sources such as generators and inverters, as well as adequate waiting areas, toilet facilities, and CCTV surveillance systems.
Also speaking, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, who led one of the validation teams, warned candidates against examination malpractice.
“If you cheat, you will be caught, and when you are caught, that is the end,” he cautioned.
