JAMB Panel Unmasks 4,251 Finger Blends, 190 AI Cheats In 2025 UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has received a report from its Special Committee on Examination Infractions (SCEI), exposing how technology-driven malpractice was undermining Nigeria’s admission process.

Presenting the report in Abuja on Monday to the JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Jake Epelle revealed that the team uncovered 4,251 cases of “finger blending” and 190 instances of AI-assisted impersonation through image morphing during its investigations into the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The panel, inaugurated on August 18, 2025, was tasked with probing rising infractions, reviewing JAMB’s systems, and recommending reforms.

Dr. Epelle described the assignment as more than administrative, but a moral obligation, a national service, and a fight for the soul of meritocracy in Nigeria.

Beyond finger blending and AI impersonation, the committee documented 1,878 false disability claims, forged credentials, multiple National Identification Number (NIN) registrations, and collusion between candidates and examination syndicates.

According to Epelle, malpractice has become highly organised, technology-driven, and dangerously normalised. He warned that parents, tutorial centres, schools, and even some CBT operators were complicit in the fraud, while weak legal frameworks made enforcement difficult.

In order to reclaim integrity in admissions, the committee urged JAMB to adopt a multi-pronged response that includes deploying AI-powered biometric anomaly tools, real-time monitoring, and a central Examination Security Operations Centre.

Also recommended by the Committee was cancellation of fraudulent results, imposing bans of one to three years, prosecuting offenders and collaborators, and establishing a Central Sanctions Registry to be accessible to institutions and employers.

On prevention, the panel called for digitising correction processes, strengthening disability verification, tightening mobile-first platforms, and outlawing bulk school-led registrations.

It further advised legal reforms through amendments to the JAMB Act and Examination Malpractice Act to recognise biometric and digital fraud, as well as the creation of a Legal Unit within JAMB.

The committee also stressed the need for cultural reorientation, urging a nationwide Integrity First campaign, embedding of ethics in school curricula, and parental accountability for aiding malpractice.

For under-18 offenders, it recommended rehabilitative measures under the Child Rights Act, including counseling and supervised re-registration rather than punitive sanctions.

The committee warned that unless urgent reforms were implemented, the credibility of Nigeria’s education system will be further eroded.

“If left unchecked, examination malpractice will continue to erode merit, undermine public trust, and destroy the very foundation of Nigeria’s education and human capital development,” Epelle said.