How Prof. Oloyede Is Safeguarding the Integrity of JAMB—A Look at His Reform-Driven Leadership

Since certain candidates’ poor scores following the announcement of the 2025 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exam results, some Nigerians have demanded the head of the examination board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who serves as the registrar and chief executive. Others, however, felt that despite the confusion that resulted in the retaking of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) a few weeks ago, Prof. Oloyede’s integrity could be trusted due to his background, which spans several decades in academia, particularly his exceptional performance and unrivaled excellence as vice-chancellor at the University of Ilorin, and his years of service to the country at JAMB.

Even though Prof. Ishaq encountered an examination body that had remained a drainpipe with no discernible improvements in its operations, he has since transformed it from the relics of “snakes swallowing money or monkeys chopping money” to one that has innovative features and contributes to the national treasury, making it a valuable asset to the country.

Since his appointment, JAMB has consistently sent billions of naira to the Federation Account; however, before his appointment, JAMB had never sent any kobo to the Federation Account.

It is well known that the examination body is the first federal agency to stop needless national budgetary leaks by demonstrating that it is more than just a cap-in-hand organization.

Therefore, Prof. Oloyede demonstrated that he is not one to back down from confronting the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be, when the regrettable situation that hurt certain students who took the 2025 UTME occurred. Additionally, he would not defend any of his officers—including himself—from any kind of violation. He stepped forward, openly acknowledged JAMB’s error, looked into the incident right away, and within days provided a report that was faultless.

He made it possible for all impacted students to retake the UTME for free, and their accurate scores were made public right after. That is the hallmark of a man with integrity who is eager to further his nation.

Being a man of thorough process, he started from the very beginning: the registration of candidates for the examination. Prof. Oloyede was pretty sure he would succeed, as he had, over the years, interrogated the different ramifications of the examination processes.

He began with the registration of candidates for the test because he was a man of meticulous procedure. Since he had examined the various implications of the examination procedures throughout the years, Prof. Oloyede was quite certain he would be successful.

Using the information available to him, he discovered that 11 CBT centers and more than 20 registration officials at the impacted CBT centers had been charged with registration malpractices alone and were advised to face harsh penalties. The registration officers and the facilities were specifically cited for fingerprint violations. We called this conference in response to notices of abnormalities. Prof. Oloyede said, “There were 862 CBT centers, some of which had very abnormal activities.”

He presented scientific and exact evidence that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the registration officers at the CBT centers under investigation had manipulated the fingerprint registration procedures by using their fingerprints to register particular candidates. He also included information about the centers and time of the infraction, the specifics of the computer system used to commit the infraction, the photos of the staff members who committed the infraction, and other specifics that anyone would want to know.

Other than coming up with weak justifications for committing the fraud, none of the charged officials offered any kind of denial.

Throughout the session, the JAMB boss was so extremely honest that he never showed signs of his psychological state or that he was completely angry. He approached the investigation with such a gentlemanly demeanor that he could be considered for the position of Inspector-General of Police, Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, or Director-General of the Department of State Services. I realized right away from him that the nation’s insecurity problems could be resolved and that it would be a relatively simple process if those in charge were prepared to fulfill their professional obligations.

The writer participated in a brainstorming session with important stakeholders last Tuesday in Abuja. The recommendations from the event were prepared and sent to Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, for approval and appropriate action.

“The leadership of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, with some critical stakeholders here, recommends as follows: that any registrant who registered more than 50 candidates (with infractions) should be dismissed from participating in any activities of the JAMB,” said Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the JAMB Public Relations Officer, after reading the resolutions in front of the offenders and stakeholders.

Accordingly, the individual will not be permitted to take part in any JAMB-managed exercises, will not be enrolled for the UTME even as a student, and will not be permitted to take any of the sister exams, including WAEC, NECO, or NABTEB, for a duration of three years. The board will review it after three years, and if the registrant exhibits sufficient regret, the suspension may be lifted. Other offenders who registered fewer than fifty candidates in such a dishonest way will be warned and, following the issuance of a bond, will have to send a letter of apology to the Board stating that they will never engage in such behavior again.

Regarding the CBT centers, all participating CBT centers should be advised that they will be required to sign a bond. In addition to the bond, they will have to provide proof of their registrants’ appropriate training and necessary competence. The relevant university department in their area should serve as the foundation for that training.

Oloyede clarified the recommendations by stating that the board will not accept any future violations from the impacted centers, even if they claim ignorance. As a result, they must complete the required training at the nearest federal university before JAMB will re-engage them.

“Until they present a certificate or a letter from the federal institution nearest to that center attesting to the ethical standards training of its employees, we will not permit any of these centers to do any business with us. However, this report will be sent to the federal government’s authority for centers that are operated by them, stating that this is what your agents did,” he stated.

Several attendees, including former Lagos Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni and former Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) Controller-General Kelechi Mmadu, although civil rights organizations expressed disapproval of the misdemeanor and pointed out that the affected registrants’ and the CBT Centers’ acts merited prosecution and a potential jail sentence, urged JAMB to pardon them and require them to sign a pledge promising not to commit the same offense in the future.

Bashir Gumel, a Jicoras CBT Center representative, previously clarified that the center has already started an internal investigation into the issue and that JAMB will be notified of the results.

“All of them have been called, and we have heard their actions. And they’ve admitted it. This will not proceed in that manner to maintain the integrity of our institution. They must be disciplined. And we guarantee that JAMB will be informed of the action that is taken. Since this is our first time registering for JAMB, we are unaware of this phenomenon. We pledged that this wouldn’t happen again.

Ijaw National Academy, Kiama, Bayelsa State; Directorate of ICT, Nigerian Army University, Biu, Gombe State; Emerald IT Academy Limited, Benin City, Edo State; Tigh Technologies, Sascon International School, Maitama, Abuja; Jicoras CBT Centre, Babura, Jigawa State; and Huntsville Technology Limited, Anthony, Lagos State were among the impacted CBT centers.

The others were the Consulate Salle D’Examen CBT Center, located at Jonny Lane/Navy Barracks, Agip Estate, Rivers State; the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Wase, Plateau State; the Abdul Ocean Weath CBT Center, Ibadan, Oyo State; and the Jolas College CBT Center, Obalende, Lagos.