The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has directed tertiary institutions involved in flawed admission practices to immediately reverse such admissions.

The Board revealed that some candidates with higher rankings were reportedly overlooked in favor of those with lower scores, a violation of established rules for admissions into Nigerian higher institutions.

The directive was announced in JAMB’s weekly bulletin on Monday in Abuja by its Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin.

“The attention of JAMB has been drawn to the conduct of admissions by some institutions where higher-ranked candidates are reportedly bypassed for lower-ranked ones,” the bulletin stated. “Decisive action has been taken against the affected institutions.”

The Board emphasized that admissions must follow a clearly defined three-tier framework: Merit, Catchment Area, and Educationally Less Developed States, with ranking as the determining factor at every stage.

“Each tier is guided strictly by ranking (Merit), such that candidates with higher rankings must be selected first, followed by others in descending order,” the bulletin added. “Any situation in which a better-ranked candidate is skipped for a lower-ranked candidate will not be tolerated.”

Addressing a separate allegation from a candidate claiming she was unfairly denied admission to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, JAMB clarified that the claim was unfounded. The Board confirmed that several applicants with higher rankings were ahead of her, and her non-admission was in line with established procedures.

“While some institutions have breached admission rules, the said candidate was not affected by the identified irregularities,” the bulletin noted.

Reaffirming its commitment to fairness, JAMB stressed that no candidate with a higher ranking will be displaced by a lower-ranked candidate in the admission process.

The Board also cautioned candidates against spreading unverified claims online and urged them to rely on official channels for clarification.

“Candidates are advised to verify any claims of admission irregularities through official channels before lending credibility to or promoting such allegations,” the statement concluded.