The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commenced the accreditation of examination centres for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
No fewer than 848 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres are slated for the accreditation exercise, which began on Monday, December 15, 2025, across the country.
Speaking at a virtual meeting with Chief External Examiners (CEEs), Chief Technical Advisors (CTAs), Zonal Directors, State Coordinators, representatives of the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria (CPAN), ZITOs, SITOs, PITOs, and other critical stakeholders involved in the exercise, the Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, thanked participants for responding to the Board’s call.
He urged members of the accreditation team to remain focused, diligent, and thorough in carrying out the task, while being mindful of the implications of their decisions. Prof. Oloyede described the assignment as a call to national duty and cautioned against accrediting centres that do not meet the Board’s standards.
The Registrar also advised participants to be security conscious, avoid unnecessary risks, minimise movement, and refrain from actions that could expose them to danger, assuring them that adequate security arrangements had been put in place to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
The Board’s IT Consultant, Mr. Damilola Bamiro, explained that the accreditation exercise covers only centres that successfully conducted the mandatory automated test designed to assess system readiness, with the results determining eligibility for physical inspection.
He outlined key areas of focus during the exercise, including CCTV coverage, which must be fully wired and use HIKVision models with the recommended 16 channels, as well as ensuring all switches are connected to an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS).
Other accreditation requirements include verifiable holding rooms or halls located close to examination halls; the availability of 250 functional laptops for new centres; spacious registration points with CCTV coverage; accessibility of network cables for biometric verification; and the use of star topology, with all switches connected to a master switch to simplify troubleshooting.
In her presentation, the Director of Information Technology Services (ITS), represented by Mr. Auwal Ahmed Bello, guided participants through the operations of the Centre Management System (CMS) and related reporting procedures.
Similarly, the Chairman of the CEEs, Prof. Vincent Tenebe, and the CTAs, Prof. Bashir Galandanci, reaffirmed their commitment to the success of the exercise, underscoring the critical role of accreditation in the 2026 UTME ecosystem.
They pledged to deliver a credible accreditation process that would stand the test of time, while thanking the Board for the opportunity to contribute to national development.
