The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has warned universities and other tertiary institutions against issuing admission letters to candidates seeking admission into their institutions, insisting that such act is not within their mandate.

The board said the responsibility of issuing official admission letters rests solely with JAMB and that institutions must comply with the established admission process to prevent confusion among candidates and ensure proper documentation of admission status.

The JAMB Registrar, Prof Segun Aina, gave the warning when he received a delegation from Veritas University, Bwari, Abuja, which paid him a courtesy visit in his office. The position of the board was disclosed in its weekly bulletin released on Monday.

According to the registrar, JAMB is the only body statutorily empowered to issue official admission letters to candidates seeking entry into all tertiary institutions in Nigeria, including universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

Aina expressed concern that many candidates often mistake admission documents issued by individual institutions for official letters. He said the irony of the situation is that once candidates see a document as emanating from an institution purporting to offer them admission, they believe that it is real and genuine.

He therefore charged universities guilty of the act to desist immediately, adding that they also have the responsibility of ensuring that admitted candidates obtain the right and valid documents directly from the board.

The registrar recalled that the Federal Ministry of Education had explicitly mandated that all admissions into tertiary institutions be conducted through the Central Admissions Processing System, CAPS. He warned that anything done contrary to that directive is illegal and invalid.

According to him, no institution is permitted to substitute its own letters for the official JAMB admission letter issued by the board after a candidate has accepted his admission offer on CAPS.

He explained that candidates must accept their admission offers through CAPS before obtaining the recognised admission documentation. He stressed that only admission offered through the approved platform is recognised and would be accepted for purposes such as mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, and other official processes.

The board has consistently urged candidates to ensure their admissions are processed through CAPS and to obtain their official letters from JAMB, warning that admissions obtained outside the approved system may not be recognised and could lead to complications in future academic and official engagements.