The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has revealed that Anambra and Lagos states have the highest number of suspects under investigation for involvement in malpractices during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

During a press briefing on Friday at the JAMB headquarters in Abuja, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed that new methods of exam fraud were detected throughout the registration and examination processes.

These included identity and biometric fraud, where candidates’ and impersonators’ thumbprints were combined at registration points, often in collusion with some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres.

There were also cases of double registration and attempts by candidates to substitute themselves during the exam.

According to the data, Anambra state recorded the highest number of suspects, with 14 individuals arrested across 13 cases of impersonation and one case of photo mismatch.

Lagos followed closely with nine suspects involved in cases of impersonation, espionage, and the possession of mobile phones.

Other states with notable arrests include Delta, with eight suspects for impersonation, Kano, with seven suspects for impersonation and phone possession, and Kaduna, with six suspects.

Rivers also reported six arrests, primarily for impersonation and possession of phones and calculators.

In Ebonyi and Enugu, five suspects each were apprehended for impersonation.

Oloyede also revealed a peculiar case where a blind candidate hired another blind man, an undergraduate, to impersonate him during the UTME.

The UTME results for 2025 were officially released on Friday, with JAMB also providing a performance breakdown of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for the exam. Of particular concern, over 1.5 million candidates scored below 200, which is considered the average benchmark for success.

The UTME is scored on a total of 400 marks, testing candidates across four core subjects, with English being mandatory and three other subjects chosen based on their intended course of study.