The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has sent a strong message to parents and candidates:
If you believe your child or ward scored high enough in the UTME but was denied admission due to bias, you should speak up and protest.
This call comes as many students continue to face challenges in the admission process, similar to how JAMB expanded CBT centers to 1,000 for the 2026 UTME to reduce stress and improve access.”
In a recent interview with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Oloyede encouraged qualified candidates who were not offered admission into their preferred institutions to raise their voices.
He emphasized that no one should accept unfair treatment silently, especially when they have strong UTME results.
This statement comes as many Nigerian students and their families continue to express frustration over the admission process.
Despite high scores, some candidates are allegedly left out due to quota systems, institutional preferences, or other undocumented factors.
Professor Oloyede’s comment is seen by many as a bold call for transparency and fairness in the admission system.
He wants parents and candidates who are confident in their performance to challenge any perceived bias rather than suffer in silence.
The JAMB boss also used the opportunity to remind stakeholders that the board remains committed to credible and merit-based admissions.
However, he acknowledged that human factors and institutional decisions sometimes create bottlenecks that need to be addressed.
For many parents, this message is empowering. It gives them permission to question decisions that seem unfair and to demand accountability from universities and other tertiary institutions.
As the 2026 admission cycle continues, this directive from JAMB could encourage more parents to actively monitor and challenge admission outcomes when necessary.
It also puts tertiary institutions on notice that their admission processes are under closer scrutiny.
The coming weeks will show whether this call leads to more protests, formal complaints, or actual changes in how admissions are handled across Nigerian universities and polytechnics.
While JAMB encourages candidates to speak up against unfair admissions, the board is also cracking down hard on malpractice, as seen in the recent arrest of candidates for forging UTME scores with AI.