JAMB has warned prospective students against accepting admission offers processed outside its Central Admissions Processing System, cautioning that such admissions are illegal and may not be recognised.

The Board stated that only candidates whose admissions are processed through CAPS and backed by an official JAMB admission letter will be regarded as duly admitted, adding that those who accept backdoor admissions risk exclusion from the official matriculation list.

JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, represented by the Board's Public Communication Adviser, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this during the 2026 Annual Education Summit of the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria in Abuja, noting that Institutions admitting candidates outside the approved process are acting unlawfully.

He explained that once a candidate accepts admission through CAPS and prints the admission letter, the individual's details are automatically added to JAMB's matriculation list.

"We have made it abundantly clear. For you to be regarded as duly admitted, you must print your JAMB admission letter. If an Institution gives you admission through the back door without JAMB documentation, that is an illegal admission," he said.

Oloyede further stressed that Universities cannot admit students beyond their approved carrying capacities, warning that any admission exceeding the approved quota would be considered invalid.

"If a programme has approval to admit 50 students, it cannot admit 51. That extra candidate becomes an illegal admission because the name will not appear on the matriculation list," he stated.

JAMB also urged candidates to verify the authenticity of their admissions and avoid Institutions that bypass the official process, while advising students to safeguard their SIM cards as vital identity tools in the computer based examination system.

"Your SIM card is your identity. Once you lose control of it, you may lose everything linked to your identity. Candidates must protect their SIM cards because they are now unique identifiers," he added.

Meanwhile, the National Universities Commission revealed plans to strengthen oversight of Universities through post matriculation inspections to ensure compliance with approved admission quotas.

"We are determined to stop the abuse. After every matriculation exercise, NUC will visit universities to verify that Institutions have not exceeded their approved admission quotas," an official disclosed.

The Commission also noted it would intensify monitoring of Artificial Intelligence use in Universities to promote ethical and responsible adoption in teaching, learning, and research.