Examination boards in Kenya and Uganda have begun requesting verification from Nigeria for records submitted by Nigerian candidates seeking admission into their tertiary institutions. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) disclosed this in a document prepared for the 2024 policy meeting.
JAMB emphasized in the document that it would not alter any student’s records and underscored the importance of safeguarding the reputation of Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
This development follows the Nigerian Federal Government’s recent decision to suspend the verification of degree certificates from Uganda, Kenya, Benin Republic, Togo, and several other countries due to allegations of certificate fraud.
In March, the Federal Government established an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to investigate the activities of certificate racketeers. The committee was formed in response to an investigative report by Daily Nigerian, in which reporter Umar Audu detailed how he obtained a degree within six weeks from a fraudulent degree mill in the Benin Republic. Audu even managed to complete the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program in Nigeria using the fake certificate.
The report’s findings led the Nigerian government to ban the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from Benin Republic and Togo. Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, affirmed that holders of fake degrees from both Nigerian and foreign universities would be removed from the system.
The committee recommended that all Nigerian universities conduct admissions through the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) and submit their matriculation lists to the Federal Ministry of Education.
In a document obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday, JAMB confirmed that examination boards in Uganda and Kenya are now reaching out to verify the records of Nigerian students applying for admission in their countries.
“Examination boards in Uganda and Kenya are now writing to JAMB to verify records presented by candidates seeking admission. JAMB will not falsify records,” the Nigerian exam body asserted.
It was also reported on Monday that the Federal Government has instructed all higher institutions in Nigeria to regularly submit their matriculation lists to the Federal Ministry of Education no later than three months after matriculation ceremonies. These lists must be submitted through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
This initiative is part of the recommendations from the Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling, aimed at tackling the issue of fake degree mills and certificate racketeers in Nigeria.
