By Rhoda Igbinosa
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) registrar, Professor Emeritus Ishaq Oloyede, has revealed that nearly 5,000 underage candidates have registered for the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
As of Monday afternoon, JAMB had registered 420,674 candidates for the May 2025/2026 exams, with a target of two million candidates for the entire exercise.
Speaking to journalists in Ilorin on Monday after inspecting several Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres, Oloyede criticised parents for assisting their underage children in registering for the examination, calling them selfish. He explained that 4,997 candidates below the age of 16 had registered by that afternoon.
He condemned these parents, accusing them of being more concerned with boosting their own reputations than acting in their children’s best interests.
‘You can see how we are fooling ourselves in this country. Before now, the maximum number of underage candidates used to be about 300. But after just five days, we have nearly 5,000 underage registrants. By the end of today, it will be over 5,000,’ he said.
Oloyede further stated that parents were misguiding their children, using early academic achievements to enhance their own CVs.
When asked why underage candidates were allowed to sit for the exams, he explained that such candidates are required to sign an indemnity form. If they fail to meet the academic standards they claim to possess, they will face sanctions.
Meanwhile, Oloyede confirmed that 420,674 candidates had registered for the 2025/2026 UTME as of Monday afternoon, with 32,435 registrations completed on that day alone. The board’s target is to register two million candidates.
He also disclosed that 124,632 candidates had signed up for the mock UTME, bringing the total number of trial-test participants to 331.
Oloyede noted that six individuals from various institutions had been permanently blacklisted for involvement in examination malpractice. A senior university official is currently being prosecuted for exam-related offences, while others remain under investigation.
Additionally, he revealed that ten institutions were caught registering candidates at night earlier in the registration process.
Following his inspection of the CBT centres, Oloyede expressed satisfaction with the ongoing registration process.
‘I am very proud of those on the field—CBT centres, my staff, and everyone involved. The process is much better now. People know we will not accept anything below standard, and they have done very well. We are also grateful to the security agencies for their support,’ he said.
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