Board to fully digitise UTME question-setting process, says Registrar
Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has rejected calls for engagement with individuals implicated in examination malpractice who are currently outside the country, insisting that issues bordering on criminal conduct fall strictly within the domain of security agencies.

Oloyede clarified while addressing journalists at the University of Ibadan (UI) during a training programme marking the final phase of the board’s decade-long automation of its examination processes.

The JAMB Registrar’s remark came amid criticisms surrounding the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) registration exercise, including comments credited to the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who raised concerns over reported difficulties experienced by some prospective candidates.

Oloyede said that although he holds Obi in high regard personally, public discourse on sensitive institutional matters must not erode established procedures or weaken accountability mechanisms.

He, however, said that some individuals allegedly involved in large-scale registration infractions and other forms of examination malpractices had fled Nigeria and were now seeking dialogue as a means of avoiding prosecution.

Oloyede, therefore, stressed that the board would not enter any arrangement that could dilute the integrity of the examination system or undermine the futures of candidates affected by fraudulent practices.

Meanwhile, Oloyede has announced the completion of a decade-long automation process, declaring that Nigeria’s central admission examination system has now fully entered the digital era.

Oloyede, who disclosed this during the training programme for question developers, described the exercise as the 10th and final phase of reforms that began nearly 10 years ago.

According to him, the latest phase focuses on automating the question-authoring process for the UTME, thereby eliminating the need for physical gatherings of examiners.

Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, said the automation would strengthen quality assurance in the admission process.

Similarly, the Vice Chancellor of the African School of Economics, Prof. Mahfuz Adedimeji, described the training as a major step in fully digitising JAMB’s operations.