Alausa, Minister of Education.
The Federal Government has warned that officials and institutions involved in illegal admissions into Nigerian tertiary institutions face severe sanctions, including dismissal from service and withdrawal of operating licences.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed that the scale of irregular admissions may be far greater than previously established, with universities alone suspected to have processed more than 200,000 admissions outside approved procedures.
Another 58,000 cases have reportedly been identified in colleges of education, raising fresh concerns over the integrity of Nigeria’s tertiary education system and the fate of students whose admissions were not processed through recognised channels.
The government said the affected admissions include those carried out outside the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s Central Admission Processing System (JAMB CAPS), the platform established to regulate and authenticate admissions into tertiary institutions.
Alausa warned that the Federal Government would no longer treat the practice as a mere administrative irregularity, stressing that institutions and officials who flout approved admission procedures would face the consequences.
Officials found culpable could lose their jobs, while private tertiary institutions involved in the practice could face the more severe penalty of having their operating licences revoked.
The development could also have serious consequences for students caught in the web of illegal admissions.
Students admitted outside approved procedures risk difficulties with the recognition and verification of their academic records, potentially affecting their graduation, certificates, further studies and employment opportunities.
The Federal Government’s position is that institutions must admit students strictly within their approved carrying capacity and through recognised admission channels.
The crackdown is therefore aimed at ending a system in which institutions allegedly circumvent regulatory procedures to admit students beyond approved limits or through unauthorised channels.
Beyond the sanctions against institutions and officials, the government’s action is expected to force tertiary institutions to comply with admission quotas and ensure that every student admitted into the system has a verifiable and officially recognised academic record.
For students and parents, the warning is a critical reminder that an admission letter from an institution may not, by itself, guarantee the legitimacy of an admission. Verification through the approved system remains essential.