Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede says the board’s primary mandate is tertiary admission, not examinations, as seven undergraduates receive ₦35 million in academic excellence awards in Lagos

The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has clarified that the board is not an examination body but an educational assessment and admission agency, urging Nigerians to better understand its statutory role in the country’s tertiary education system.

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Oloyede made the clarification on Thursday at the maiden Rite Foods National Academic Excellence Awards held at the Civic Centre, Lagos, where seven outstanding undergraduates shared prizes worth ₦35 million in recognition of their academic achievements.

The JAMB registrar said the board’s mandate is frequently misunderstood, with many Nigerians mistakenly equating it with examination bodies such as the West African Examinations Council and the National Examinations Council because it conducts the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

“We conduct exams, but we are not an examination company. You cannot say the University of Lagos is an examination body because it conducts examinations. The same way, JAMB conducts exams, but JAMB is not an examination body,” Oloyede said.

He explained that examinations are merely one of the operational tools used by the board to fulfil its primary responsibility of coordinating admissions into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

“If you want to know what an examination body is, look at WAEC or NECO. Their names clearly show they are examination bodies. JAMB is an educational assessment body, and its goal is admission, not examination,” he added.

Oloyede observed that the widespread attention given to the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination has created the false impression that securing a high score automatically guarantees admission into a university, polytechnic or college of education.

Describing the perception as misleading, he said the UTME is only one stage in a comprehensive admission process that also takes into account candidates’ subject combinations, academic qualifications and institution-specific requirements.

“There is a hype about UTME in Nigeria. People believe it is the golden key to tertiary institutions. It is not so,” Oloyede said.

He noted that celebrating candidates solely for obtaining high UTME scores without considering their eligibility for admission paints an incomplete picture of the admission process.

“Many people have high scores but do not have the required subject combinations or qualifications for admission. That is why celebrating UTME alone can be misleading,” he said.

According to the JAMB registrar, the board serves as a central clearing house that processes millions of admission applications annually, ensuring candidates are fairly placed into tertiary institutions based on merit, institutional requirements and available spaces.

The remarks come amid increasing public scrutiny of the UTME in recent years, particularly following debates over examination conduct, score interpretation and admission policies.

JAMB has consistently maintained that while it administers the UTME, admission decisions ultimately involve several criteria set by tertiary institutions in line with national guidelines.

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The academic excellence awards, organised by Rite Foods Limited, also celebrated outstanding undergraduate students from universities across Nigeria, with seven recipients sharing a total prize pool of ₦35 million, underscoring the importance of rewarding academic excellence alongside promoting a better understanding of the country’s admission system.