The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has discovered that only six of the 148 A-Level certificates submitted to Bayero University Kano (BUK) for Direct Entry admissions were genuine.
The remaining 142 were found to be fake.
In a recent bulletin, JAMB explained that its screening process aims to ensure only valid documents are used for admissions. The board also stressed that schools must properly check the certificates submitted by applicants.
To tackle the problem of fake certificates, JAMB introduced the Nigeria Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (NIPEDS) two years ago. This came after BUK reported that only six out of 148 certificates it checked were real, with the rest being forged.
Through NIPEDS, JAMB has been able to detect fake certificates, including those from foreign schools, used in Direct Entry applications. Recently, 13 more fake A-Level certificates were found, which some institutions had already used to offer admissions.
Those involved in the fraud have been handed over to the police for prosecution. JAMB has also warned that schools accepting candidates with fake certificates will be treated as part of the fraud.
While NIPEDS helps detect fake documents, JAMB urged schools to conduct their own verification to prevent such cases. One shocking example involved candidates submitting fake IJMBE results from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria to gain admission into the same university.