The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has urged parents and candidates to speak up if they are confident in their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scores but are not admitted to their desired institutions.
Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of JAMB, stated this during an interview with Good Morning Nigeria, a Nigerian Television Authority broadcast.
In a video posted by NTA on Tuesday, the registrar said that many parents continue to utilize illegal means because they have “climbed the ladder to illegality” and believe no other option exists.
He did, however, emphasize that the mechanism is now transparent and intended to promote fairness.
“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,” Oloyede said.
He cited the Central Admission Processing System as a key role in maintaining transparency.
“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,” he said.
Oloyede also stated that since 2017, there has not been any reported problem with CAPS.
He regarded the system as completely capable of handling admissions without interference or faults.
Addressing direct entrance difficulties, the registrar said that JAMB has tightened verification systems for various programmes, making it practically impossible for candidates to falsify results.
“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.
Oloyede added that degrees presented for admissions are now being verified with 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.
