The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has called on parents and candidates to raise concerns if they believe their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scores qualify them for admission but they are yet to secure placement in their chosen institutions.
Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made the appeal during an interview on the Nigerian Television Authority’s programme, Good Morning Nigeria.
In a video posted by NTA on Tuesday, Prof. Oloyede noted that some parents continue to resort to illegal measures because they feel “they have climbed the ladder to illegality” and see no other alternative.
“People are so daring, and the parents, because they have climbed the ladder to illegality, they believe there is no other way.
I’ve seen many people who sent their children’s scores to me and asked what they could do. I tell them I will do nothing, and the candidate is admitted—and they thank me. I did nothing,” he said.
He highlighted the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) as a key tool in ensuring fairness and transparency in admissions.
“If you find anybody, if you are sure of yourself, you have a score, and this is the UTME score of my child, and you know that you ought to be admitted and you are not admitted, protest to us because CAPS has made everything easy,” Prof. Oloyede said.
The registrar added that since 2017, the CAPS system has functioned smoothly, managing admissions efficiently without errors or external interference.
On matters concerning direct entry admissions, Prof. Oloyede revealed that JAMB has enhanced verification procedures for various programmes, making it extremely difficult for candidates to submit forged results.
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“Since 2023, annually, the rates had gone down. Many people are no longer applying for direct entry because they know we are supervising thoroughly and every year, this year, we have arrested, we have caught 77, but we did more prevention.
JUPEB, IJMB and all the rest—we check at the point of entry and we made it impossible for them to forge, but there are still degrees,” he said.
Prof. Oloyede further explained that degrees submitted for admission are now verified with the awarding institutions, including foreign universities, to prevent misuse.
“This year, we had about four or five cases where foreign institutions reported that the degree presented was not theirs.
The answer to your question was that that was possible because at that time, we were not checking the A-level and it’s not part of primarily our duty.
That’s why we don’t want to be diverted. That’s why we made one of the gurus of the universities to help us not to be diverted and every year,” he said.
The registrar reaffirmed that the system is designed to ensure fairness and integrity, urging stakeholders to trust the transparent processes now in place for both UTME and direct entry admissions.