From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has welcomed the decision of the Senate to probe alleged admission racketeering in universities, stressing that the examination body will be vindicated.
The Senate, last week, threatened to investigate allegation of admission racketeering in the university, following a motion moved by Senator Onyeka Nwebonyi (Ebonyi North).
Nwebonyi, cited admission travails of one Chinyere Ekwe at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). He alleged that university staff members conspired with JAMB officials to carry out unwholesome practices, prompting the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to call for a fair hearing, saying JAMB was known to be a reputable institution.
Reacting to the development during this year’s Customer Service Week of the Board in Abuja, JAMB’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, commended the Senate for giving opportunity to the examination body to defend itself over the issue.
He said: “Something happened in the Senate when a motion was moved to take certain steps about what was alleged to be a connivance between JAMB and some institutions on admission racketeering, and that was on the floor of the Senate.
“Anything that appears negative also has a positive in it. The Senate President said JAMB must be heard because of its integrity. We appreciate the Senate President and the entire Senate for the wise decision. We thank them for giving us the opportunity to be heard.”
Clarifying the major issue in the allegation, Oloyede explained that the affected candidate sat for the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), and she scored 291.
He said the girl applied to study Medicine and Surgery at UNN, and was in 241 position in the ranking of applicants for the medical programme in the university after all her other academic performances, including post-UTME score were calculated by the institution.
“With the reality of the ranking, she did not apply to change her course, but the university decided she change 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, and we knew that she could not have been taken for Medicine because that year the university admitted more than the approved number. ”
While saying that the university admitted above its given departmental quota in Medical Laboratory and was told to reduce the number, Oloyede said it was discovered that many other applicants who were admitted “under the table” (illegally) scored above her.
“Up till today, the lady has no approval letter from JAMB neither for Medicine nor Medical Laboratory. And if she is doing Medical Laboratory, she is doing it in an arrangement with the institution.
“The university went beyond that, in March this year on the approval of the Minister that we condone some illegality in admission between 2017 and 2020, they now recommended the girl as undisclosed admission”
Oloyede, however, said that the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) of JAMB detected issue with the admission having ranked in distant 241 position, which made her stands no chance to be admitted.
The JAMB boss further disclosed that the university ought to have followed all procedures of admitting candidates starting from ensuring that they conform with the quota allocated to them and ranking order, which was ignored in this case.
“The truth of the matter was that if she has a letter of provisional admission, it is not from JAMB. So, we welcome the wise counsel of the Senate President that the matter be investigated. We will cooperate with the Senate,” Oloyede added.
The Registrar assured Nigerians that the Board and its staff would be vindicated, even as he expressed delight over the mediating role the examination body has played between candidates and institutions in ensuring equity and fairness.