Fresh revelations have emerged on how some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres accredited by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) allegedly colluded with hackers to manipulate the outcome of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Findings showed that certain CBT operators provided sensitive technical details to hackers, who then gained remote access to examination servers. This manipulation, insiders confirmed, enabled mercenaries to sit examinations on behalf of unsuspecting candidates.
The controversy follows the technical glitches recorded during the 2025 UTME, which left many candidates stranded and contributed to a high failure rate. Out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for the exam, 1.5 million scored below 200 marks out of 400. The development sparked nationwide outrage, with the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, emotionally admitting on May 14 that technical errors had compromised results.
In the aftermath, at least 20 suspects were arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja for alleged server hacking. By June, JAMB also raised fresh alarms over candidates using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for impersonation and making false claims of albinism to obtain undue advantage.
Data presented at the board’s 2025 policy meeting in July further exposed that CBT centres in Imo and Anambra States ranked highest in cases of finger-pairing malpractices.
A hacker, identified only as Ahmed, explained the modus operandi. According to him, some CBT centres deliberately released their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to outsiders. With this access, hackers could infiltrate servers, obtain candidates’ login details, and take over their examination process.
“While candidates are physically present in the exam hall, mercenaries operate outside, remotely answering questions. Candidates are often logged out on purpose so that hackers can take over. They are instructed to stay calm, wait about 20 minutes, and then raise a complaint. By the time they are re-logged in, their answers have already been filled in. All they need to do is click ‘Submit,’” Ahmed revealed.
He added that the operation only required obtaining the CBT centre’s IP address, inserting numeric codes, and using them as backdoors to access JAMB’s servers.
An education consultant in Badagry, Lagos, corroborated Ahmed’s account, stressing that such malpractice would be impossible without insiders within CBT centres.
“There is always someone from inside the centre supplying IP addresses. Without that, hackers cannot breach the servers. Parents pay huge sums to these centres, and once access is granted, mercenaries ensure their candidates pass with ease,” the consultant disclosed.
Despite arrests and warnings, concerns persist that server breaches and insider collusion may continue to undermine the integrity of Nigeria’s tertiary entrance examinations.