The Federal Government has declared that any admission into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions conducted outside the Central Admissions Processing System will be considered illegal.
This directive was issued by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, on Tuesday in Abuja during the 2025 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
Alausa, therefore, cautioned universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education across the country to desist from engaging in illegal admission practices. He warned that institutions and individuals found culpable would face prosecution and stringent sanctions.
“Any admission conducted outside CAPS, regardless of its intentions, is illegal,” Alausa said.
“Both institutions and the candidates involved in such practices will be held accountable.
“Sanctions may include withdrawal of institutional assets and prosecution of culpable officers or governing council members,” he added.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, CAPS was introduced in 2017 to automate Nigeria’s tertiary admissions process, aiming to eliminate human interference and reduce administrative bottlenecks.
Reiterating the Federal Government’s commitment to entrench transparency, fairness, and accountability in the admission system, Alausa explained that while the academic boards of each institution are responsible for initiating admissions, JAMB, as the statutory regulatory body, must supervise and regulate the process to ensure equity.
The minister urged vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and governing councils to strengthen their oversight roles to prevent unauthorised practices.
He also assured that the Ministry of Education would work closely with JAMB to monitor compliance.
Additionally, Alausa reaffirmed the policy requiring the integration of the National Identification Number into the JAMB registration process.
“The NIN requirement has proven vital in safeguarding the integrity of our admission system by curbing identity fraud and multiple registrations.
“Any abuse of the NIN system will be identified and punished,” he said.
The minister stressed the importance of adopting data-driven policies in managing the admission processes.
He went on to present statistics highlighting a significant mismatch between the available admission quotas and the actual student intake across several key programmes, particularly in agriculture, education, engineering, and the health sciences.
“We have capacity, but we are not admitting enough students.
“We need to start closing the gap so that more children can access tertiary education,” he said.
Alausa also criticised the proliferation of underutilised institutions, disclosing that over 120 universities in Nigeria received fewer than 50 applications during the current admission cycle.
“The problem is not about access; it’s about alignment and capacity.
“We don’t need to open new tertiary institutions in every ward. Instead, we must expand and strengthen the capacity of existing ones,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, Senator Shuaib Salisu, called for tougher penalties against institutions and administrators who undermine Nigeria’s admission processes.
Salisu advocated for the criminalisation of fraudulent admission practices and warned institutions that exploit loopholes in the admissions system, leading students to unknowingly pursue flawed admissions for years, to desist from such activities.
He assured that the Senate Committee would explore legislative measures to criminalise such fraudulent practices, thereby holding admission officers and institutional management accountable.
Salisu also emphasised the need for an inclusive education system that would foster peace and drive economic growth.