Education
JAMB Warns Against NIN Abuse as 2026 UTME Registration Begins
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned candidates against the misuse of National Identification Numbers (NINs) ahead of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) registration, which begins on January 26.
The warning was issued by the Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, during a management meeting held to prepare for the sale of application forms for the 2026 UTME and Direct Entry (DE) examinations.
According to a bulletin released on Monday, Prof. Oloyede warned that “Multiple/double registrations coupled with the use of multiple National Identification Numbers (NINs) by a single candidate for the purpose of double registration, impersonation, or any form of identity manipulation is strictly prohibited and will be severely sanctioned.”
He also cautioned against impersonation, extortion, image blending, group registration and fingerprint donation, warning “against donating to or accepting fingers from others in order to accelerate biometric capturing, stating that such actions attract severe sanctions and consequences.”
Candidates were advised “to ensure that only their own ten fingers are captured individually and correctly at the CBT centre.”
Prof. Oloyede reaffirmed JAMB’s cashless registration policy and announced that all third-party fees would continue to be centrally collected to prevent exploitation.
He stated that “the cost of DE application documents remains N5,700; UTME without Mock is still N7,200; while UTME with Mock is N8,700.”
According to him, UTME registration will run from January 26 to February 28, 2026, while Direct Entry registration will commence on March 2 and end on April 25, 2026, with DE registration available only at JAMB offices.
