UTME: Court to rule on admissibility of defendants’ statements in alleged exam malpractice
By Zubairu Idris
A Federal High Court in Katsina, has fixed Jan. 14, 2026, for ruling on the admissibility of two defendants’ recorded statements as evidence in the alleged Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) malpractice.
The defendants, Bolanwu Emmanuel and Ibrahim Abdulaziz, are standing trial for alleged malpractice during the UTME conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on April 30, 2025 at Zee Alpha International School, Funtua, Katsina State.
The Prosecution counsel, who is also the Officer-in-Charge of Legal, Katsina Police Command, Mr AD Sale, presented an investigation police officer, Insp. Lawal Umar, to testify before the court.
In his testimony, Umar said that the case was initially transferred from the Civil Defence to the police for prosecution.
He revealed that the statements of the first and second dependants were taken by the police, video recorded, and also documented in a flash drive, in accordance with the requirements of the law.
The prosecution counsel, therefore, urged the court to mark the statement and the flash drive as exhibits and admit them in evidence.
The defendants, however, said that statements were not the initial ones they told the police.
The defence counsel, MT Steven, therefore, objected to the admissibility of the said document and the flash drive in evidence.
He urged the court not to accept the statement and the flash drive as exhibits and mark them as rejected.
After the counsel arguments, the judge, Justice Hussani Dadan-Garba, adjourned the case to Jan. 14, 2026 for ruling on the admissibility or otherwise of the recorded statement and the flash drive in evidence, and continuous hearing.
