JAMB clears air on undergraduate writing UTME exams

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has denied reports claiming that students already studying in universities are not allowed to register for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) or Direct Entry (DE).

In a statement released on Wednesday in Abuja, JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, described the reports as false and misleading. He said the claims came from individuals who misunderstood JAMB’s guidelines and shared wrong information on social media to gain attention.

Dr. Benjamin explained that JAMB’s 2026 UTME and Direct Entry guidelines clearly instruct candidates to declare their current admission status during registration. According to him, it is not a crime for a student who is already in a university or other tertiary institution to register for UTME or Direct Entry.

However, he stressed that candidates must honestly disclose if they are already admitted into any institution. Failing to do so is against the law guiding admissions in Nigeria.

He added that once a candidate gains a new admission, any previous admission will automatically end. By law, no student is allowed to hold two admissions at the same time.

Dr. Benjamin said this disclosure rule has helped JAMB stop the activities of students who register repeatedly just to sit for exams for others.

He warned that candidates who hide their existing admission risk losing both admissions if discovered by JAMB’s system.

He advised the public to always rely on official JAMB information and ignore false interpretations spread for personal gain.