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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to accredit a total of 1,039 computer-based test (CBT) centres across Nigeria for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is’haq Oloyede, disclosed this on Wednesday in Ilorin while speaking with The PUNCHduring an ongoing accreditation tour of CBT centres.

According to Oloyede, the board has deployed 52 accreditation teams nationwide to reassess existing centres and disqualify any that fail to meet JAMB’s standards.

“The board is planning to accredit a total of 1,039 CBT centres across the country for the 2026 examination. We currently have 52 teams deployed nationwide to re-accredit centres and, where necessary, disqualify those that do not meet our requirements,” he said.

He explained that the accreditation exercise is conducted annually to ensure strict compliance, stressing that approval in previous years does not guarantee continued eligibility.

“The fact that you qualified last year does not mean you qualify this year,” the registrar noted.

Describing the exercise as largely successful so far, Oloyede revealed that only a few centres previously implicated in examination malpractice had attempted to return under new guises.

“Some centres that were involved in malpractice last year — not in Kwara State — have tried to repackage themselves by relocating or operating under different identities,” he said.

To curb this trend, Oloyede said JAMB has strengthened its collaboration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to block blacklisted operators from re-entering the system.

“We have liaised with the CAC so that once you are a director of a failed CBT centre, you cannot resurface anywhere in the country. We now have access to directors’ details, including their NINs, to prevent abuse,” he explained.

He added that staff members and proctors previously implicated in malpractice have also been permanently barred from participating in future examinations.

“All such individuals have their NINs flagged. Wherever they go, they will jeopardise that centre because we will not approve it,” he said.

Oloyede further disclosed that computer systems used in delisted centres have been permanently blocked from the JAMB platform.

“Once a computer is traced to a delisted centre, it can never return to our system, even if sold to another CBT centre,” he stated.

He also revealed that a few breaches had already been detected during the exercise, prompting JAMB to involve security agencies, noting that such actions constitute violations of Nigerian law, not just JAMB regulations.

Speaking on accreditation requirements, the Chief Technical Adviser to the Kwara State accreditation team, Prof. Veronica Mejabi, said centres must satisfy both hard and soft criteria.

“The most critical hard requirement is the implementation of a specified network topology to allow quick troubleshooting during examinations,” she said.

She added that centres must provide reliable alternative power sources such as generators and inverters, while soft requirements include adequate waiting areas, functional toilet facilities and the installation of CCTV cameras for effective monitoring.

Also speaking, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, who led one of the validation teams, issued a stern warning to candidates against examination malpractice.

“If you cheat, you will be caught. And once you are caught, that is the end,” he cautioned.

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