The examination organization insisted that it would be vindicated and applauded the Senate's move to look into allegations of admission racketeering in colleges.
Recall that, in response to a motion made by Senator Onyeka Nwebonyi (Ebonyi North), the Senate last week decided to look into claims of admission racketeering in the country's universities.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, called for a fair hearing after Nwebonyi, citing the admission struggles of one Chinyere Ekwe at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), claimed that university employees colluded with JAMB officials to carry out unethical practices.
In response to the events that transpired during the Board's Customer Service Week in Abuja this year, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of JAMB, praised the Senate for allowing the exam board to present its case.
The impacted candidate, according to Oloyede, took the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and received a score of 291.
He claimed that the girl had applied to study medicine and surgery at UNN, and that the university had ranked her application for the medical program in 241 place after taking into account all of her previous academic achievements, including her post-UTME score.
"We knew that she could not have been taken for Medicine because that year the university admitted more than the approved number," he said, adding, "Seeing the reality of the ranking, this lady did not apply to change her course. However, the university decided she changes to Medical Laboratory, and a proposal was made to her and she accepted the Medical Laboratory in writing. The institution then recommended her for admission into Medical Laboratory."
Oloyede said that despite the university's admission of more applicants than its departmental cap in the Medical Laboratory—which it was instructed to lower—it was later found that numerous other candidates who were allowed "under the table"—that is, without following the law—scored higher than her.
"The woman has not received a letter of consent from JAMB for either medical laboratory work or medicine as of yet. Furthermore, Oloyede stated, "If she is working in the medical laboratory, it is under a contract between her and the organization.
"The university went beyond that, in March this year on the arrangement of the Honourable Minister that we cordone some illegality in admission between 2017 and 2020, they now recommended the girl as undisclosed admission – that is admission done under the table, and you can come in like that using the waiver of the Honourable Minister," the JAMB chief continued.
However, Oloyede stated that the Central entrance Processing System (CAPS) of JAMB found a problem with her entrance because she was ranked 241 places away, meaning she had no possibility of being admitted.
The head of JAMB also revealed that the university should have followed all admissions protocols, starting with making sure that the candidates match the quota allotted to them and the ranking order, which was not followed in this instance.
In actuality, the letter of provisional admission she possesses is not from JAMB. Therefore, we applaud the Senate President's prudent recommendation that the issue be looked into. We'll work with the Senate, Oloyede continued.
The registrar stated his satisfaction with the exam body's function as a mediator between candidates and institutions to ensure equity and fairness, while also assuring the public that the Board and its employees will be vindicated.