The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has withheld the results of 39,834 candidates out of the 1.9million applicants in this year’s Unified Matriculation Matriculation Examination (UTME).
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede announced this on Friday, in a press conference to officially announce the 2025 UTME result in Abuja.
Prof. Oloyede further disclosed that 80 suspects across the country were currently under interrogation for examination fraud with Anambra State leading the pack with 14 suspects.
He also stated that while 41,000 underaged candidates registered for the exercise, 467 met the prescribed minimum score, while 50 were engaged in cheating scandal.
The JAMB Boss said the Board remained resolute in its commitment to eliminating any form of examination malpractice, adding that 1,957,000 candidates were verified to sit for the exam, while 71,705 were absent.
According to him, 2,157 candidates experienced fingerprint rejections due to suspected registration infractions, a figure, he said, was far above acceptable margins and currently under investigation.
“The 2025 UTME showed the prevalence of some particular types of infractions, which suggests systemic vulnerabilities or gaps in registration and examination administration or/and monitoring.
“The new trends observed were in the Registration and Examination processes and they were mainly in the following categories: Identity Fraud, and Biometric Fraud of Combined Thumbprint of Candidate,” he said.
Other infractions, he said, were impersonator at the point of registration with the active involvement of few CBT Centres, double registration, and attempted substitution of self by candidates.
Oloyede added that 244 candidates were caught engaging in “WhatsApp runs,” subscribing to rogue groups promising leaked questions. He said their results had also been withheld to set a stern example.
In some cases, he said, the entire syndicates colluded with CBT centres to register using multiple fingerprints. Therefore, as a result of this, 3,656 candidates with “extraneous fingerprints” had their results withheld, and CBT centres implicated will face sanctions.
He identified the centres as Tigh Technologies Limited, Sascon International School, Maitama, Abuja, Wudil Computer Information Technology. Wudil, Kano State and Penta M &Amp; Centre 2, Tambuwal LGA, Sokoto, Sokoto State.
He said that for the 2025 UTME, a total of 501 candidates were successfully examined by JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG) across 11 centres nationwide.
According to Oloyede, the results are also being released but sadly, one of them was also involved in impersonation.
The registrar also said that due to substandard performance, four centres had been delisted and blacklisted for technical deficiencies
He listed the centres as: Adventure Associate, Behind Sheshe Supermarket, Kano, Saadatu Rimi College of Education, Zaria, Soronara Ventures Nigeria Limited Foundation Road, Umudagu Mbieri, Mbaitoli, Imo State and HSS Amazing, Holy Saviour School 30/32, Old Ota Road, Adeleye, Aparadija, Isunba, Lafenwa, Itele, Ogun State.
He therefore said that a list of those blacklisted for fraudulent practices would soon be made public with details of their nefarious activities.
Oloyede maintained that in spite of challenges, the 2025 UTME had been hailed as one of the most successful in recent years.
He reaffirmed the Board’s commitment to zero-tolerance stance on malpractice and pledged continued innovation to protect the credibility of public examinations.
On how to check the UTME results, the JAMB Registrar said, “to check the 2025 UTME results, candidates should send by text message “UTMERESULT” as one word to 55019 or 66019 using the same phone number they had used to register during the registration process. Result printing will be available later.”
