The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has issued a strong warning to tertiary institutions against the practice of admitting lower-ranked candidates while overlooking those with higher rankings.

According to the examination body, any institution found engaging in such irregular admission practices must immediately reverse them. JAMB emphasized that all admissions must strictly follow the approved guidelines for candidate selection.

In a statement released by JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, the Board explained that university admissions in Nigeria are guided by a three-tier policy: Merit, Catchment Area, and Educationally Less Developed States (ELDS).

The statement clarified that selection within each category is purely merit-based. Candidates with higher scores and rankings are expected to be considered first, followed by others in descending order.

JAMB stressed that skipping a better-ranked candidate in favor of a lower-ranked one under any of the admission categories will not be tolerated.

Meanwhile, the Board dismissed a recent allegation circulated by certain individuals who allegedly incite candidates to raise baseless complaints for personal benefit.

Following a thorough investigation, JAMB revealed that the candidate mentioned in the allegation, who was said to have scored highly but was denied admission into the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), was not unfairly treated. The Board explained that several candidates with higher rankings were placed ahead of her on the admission list.

As a result, her failure to secure admission was in accordance with due process, as she did not rank high enough to fall within the institution’s admission quota.