.. Miracle Centres Risk Derecognition
The Federal Government has ordered that any student found guilty of examination malpractice during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) be barred from sitting for all external examinations in Nigeria—including the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), the National Examination Council (NECO), and the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB)—for a period of three years.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, issued the directive in a letter addressed to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and other examination bodies, citing sections 5(1)(c)(iv) and 6 of the JAMB Act and the Examination Malpractices Act.
Alausa said the move aims to serve as a deterrent to candidates and parents enabling fraudulent practices and to dismantle the network of so-called “miracle centres” across the country’s education system.
“This directive is also in accordance with Section 16(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act,” the minister stated.
“An examination body may… circulate the name of an offending candidate, supervisor, invigilator, official, school, or examination centre to other examination bodies, which may impose similar punishment.”
The stern measure follows JAMB’s disclosure of widespread malpractice during the 2025 UTME, with over 3,000 candidates implicated in sophisticated cheating schemes.
According to the board, several culprits have already been arrested and have reportedly made useful confessions.
“As investigation progresses, all candidates implicated in these unwholesome activities will have their results withdrawn as soon as incontrovertible proofs are established, even if the results have been released,” JAMB stated.
In addition to student sanctions, the minister directed that any school or Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre found complicit in aiding malpractice be derecognised.
He further instructed that if a school or centre is blacklisted by one exam body, all sister bodies must impose identical sanctions concurrently.
“This will send a very strong signal to operators of these miracle centres,” Alausa said.
Education stakeholders have long criticised miracle centres for undermining academic integrity.
The government’s latest move is seen as a major crackdown on the growing influence of such centres in Nigeria’s secondary education landscape.
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