The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that a total of 2,243,816 candidates successfully registered for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) across Nigeria.
According to the examination body, registration figures released for each state show that Lagos State recorded the highest number of candidates with 321,814, followed closely by Kaduna State with 303,498, and the Federal Capital Territory with 302,963 candidates.
Other states with high registration numbers include Ogun State (137,156), Oyo State (122,662) and Rivers State (105,584). Meanwhile, several states recorded moderate figures, including Kwara State with 64,988, Ondo State with 66,270, and Plateau State with 62,440 candidates.
The board also released registration statistics for other states across the country. These include Delta State (77,670), Edo State (59,605), Benue State (60,860), Enugu State (50,305), and Niger State (47,679), among others.
In addition to local registrations, JAMB confirmed that a number of candidates also registered from foreign countries. These include Côte d’Ivoire with 32 candidates, Equatorial Guinea with 16, Burkina Faso with 14, and United Kingdom with 12 candidates, among others.
Meanwhile, the Registrar of JAMB, Is-haq Oloyede, revealed that the board recently uncovered a fraud syndicate using AI-generated images and videos of senior officials to deceive candidates.
He explained that the syndicate operated through an online platform promising “VIP assistance” and direct access to the examination system to inflate candidates’ scores. According to him, investigations showed that more than 120 candidates had already paid the fraud network.
The registrar added that, with the approval of Nigeria’s Minister of Education, the board would delete at least 100 UTME registrations belonging to candidates who attempted to manipulate their results through the illegal scheme.
