Seventeen officials from Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have been sentenced to prison for their roles in aiding approximately 15,000 students to forge admission letters. The forged documents were reportedly used by unqualified students to gain eligibility for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
The JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed the information on Monday during the 2025 Batch C Pre-Mobilisation Workshop organized by the NYSC in Abuja, confirming that those involved are currently facing prosecution for forgery.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a mandatory one-year scheme for Nigerian graduates under the age of 30, designed to foster national unity and development. Participation requires proof of graduation, typically verified through admission and graduation records.
The revelation of 15,000 forged admission letters shows a serious breach of integrity within the system, undermining the credibility of academic institutions and the NYSC mobilization process.
The Registrar indicated that the fraud was uncovered through the Board’s internal audit and cross-verification of records from various tertiary institutions.
In response, the NYSC Director-General, Brig-Gen Olakunle Nafiu, has cautioned educational stakeholders and urged institutions to strengthen their verification mechanisms to protect the scheme.
The Nigerian government, through agencies like the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), has been charged to prosecute all individuals involved in the fraud.
The NYSC and JAMB are expected to implement more stricter digital and physical verification protocols to prevent similar breaches in future mobilization exercises. The NYSC has announced that the online registration for the 2025 Batch C orientation is scheduled to commence on November 4, 2025, with more focus to be placed on credential verification for all participants.
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