The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has urged Nigerian universities to comply strictly with approved admission guidelines, warning that candidates admitted outside the established procedures risk having their admissions unrecognised and being unable to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
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JAMB Registrar, Professor Segun Aina, gave the warning on Tuesday at the National Universities Commission (NUC) retreat with vice-chancellors of Nigerian universities in Abuja. The meeting focused on strengthening regulatory compliance, governance, leadership and partnerships within the university system.
Aina said some candidates had been admitted by institutions outside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), leaving them with admission offers that were not officially recognised by JAMB.
He explained that such candidates could complete their university education only to discover that their admission records were invalid, potentially preventing them from participating in the mandatory national youth service scheme.
The registrar described CAPS as a critical tool for promoting transparency, accountability and the protection of candidates during the admission process. He urged universities to ensure that all admission offers were properly processed and verifiable through the platform.
He said strict compliance with the system would protect students from the consequences of irregular admissions while safeguarding the credibility of university admission procedures.
Aina also acknowledged the recent disruptions to CAPS, apologising to candidates and university administrators for the inconvenience. He said JAMB was working on medium- and long-term measures to improve the platform’s stability and reliability.
The planned improvements include stronger system redundancy, better governance arrangements and business continuity measures designed to minimise the risk and impact of future disruptions.
He stressed that the board’s responsibility extended beyond restoring the platform after technical problems to ensuring that it remained dependable for institutions and candidates.
The registrar further urged university administrators to monitor their admission processes closely and comply with approved guidelines and deadlines. He said JAMB would continue working with universities to address institutional challenges and improve the admission process.
The warning comes as institutions process admissions for the 2026/2027 academic session. Under the approved timetable, public universities are expected to conclude admissions by October 31, 2026, private universities by November 30, and other tertiary institutions by December 31.
JAMB reiterated that cooperation between admission regulators and university administrators was essential to ensuring that candidates received valid admission offers and that the system operated transparently and in the public interest.
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