Oloyede said the illegality was perpetrated in all the six geopolitical zones by public and private higher institutions.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has detected 706,189 illegal admissions by universities, Colleges of Education, polytechnics and other tertiary education institutions.
Prof Is-haq Oloyede, the registrar of the examinations agency disclosed this at the Consultative Sensitisation Meeting with Select Stakeholders in Abuja, adding that the illegal admissions had damaged the image of the country.
According to Nation, Oloyede said the illegality was perpetrated in all the six geopolitical zones by public and private higher institutions.
While about 114 universities accounted for 67.795 of the illegal admissions, 137 polytechnics were responsible for 489,918, 80 Colleges of Education for 142, 818 and 37 other institutions involved in 5,678 cases.
The undisclosed admissions were perpetrated from 2017 to 2020 by the affected institutions.
He said such admissions were unknown to JAMB as prescribed by law.
But the Minister of Education assented to JAMB’s plea for a last chance for the violators.
He said the institutions disregarded JAMB’s Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS which allows institutions to “only admit candidates that met the requirements.”
He said the affected institutions’ Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts have admitted their mistakes by “sending a formal letter of confession and disclosure to the JAMB Registrar.”
In the list of the 114 universities given to stakeholders, some of the top indicted for illegal admissions include University of Jos (7,600); Benue State University (6,171); Olabisi Onabanjo University (5,669); Kwara State University (4, 281); Novena University (3,432); University of Nigeria, Nsukka (2,732); and Imo State University (2,330).
Others listed were; University of Calabar(2,074); NTA Television College(1,934); Baze University(1,717); Oduduwa University(1,450); Kaduna State College of Education(1,417); Tai Solarin University of Education(1,101); Al-qalam University(1,062); Gombe State University(1,017).
Oloyede said, “As a measure of mopping up the backlog of improperly admitted candidates, the Honourable Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, assented to the Board’s plea for a last chance for the violators.
“He also approved the caveat that the culprits should, first and foremost, declare the number of candidates admitted outside CAPS between 2017 and 2020 by sending a formal letter of confession and disclosure to the JAMB Registrar.
“Those minimally qualified would then be condoned to put an end to the period and finally put the matter to rest.
“The Board was then directed to launch massive campaigns to educate the public against accepting such illegal admissions henceforth.
“It is astonishing that so far, 706,189 candidates have been disclosed as illegally admitted between 2017 and 2020.”
Oloyede said there will no longer be opportunities for illegal admissions by universities and other higher institutions.