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

The board warned that any attempt to bypass higher-ranked candidates in favour of those with lower scores will not be tolerated.

In its weekly bulletin released on Monday in Abuja, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Public Communication Adviser, said the board had uncovered cases where candidates with stronger rankings were reportedly overlooked during the admission process.

“The attention of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has been drawn to the conduct of admissions by some tertiary institutions, where higher-ranked candidates are reportedly being bypassed in favour of lower-ranked candidates,” the bulletin stated.

JAMB said decisive action had been taken against the affected institutions and reiterated that admissions must strictly follow the established 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. Any situation in which a better-ranked candidate is skipped for a lower-ranked candidate under any of these categories will not be tolerated,” the board stated.

The board also addressed a separate complaint by a candidate who claimed she was unfairly denied admission to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

JAMB clarified that her non-admission was in line with due process, as several applicants with higher rankings were ahead of her, and she was not affected by the irregularities identified in other institutions.

Reaffirming its commitment to fairness, JAMB urged all candidates to rely on official channels for verification of admission claims and avoid spreading unverified information on social media.

“The Board advises candidates to refrain from allowing themselves to be used by individuals seeking attention or followership through baseless allegations. Candidates should verify claims of admission irregularities through appropriate and official channels before lending credence to or promoting such allegations,” the bulletin added. (BusinessDay)