Eighty-eight tertiary institutions in Nigeria, including University of Abuja and University of Uyo, failed to comply with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) admission guideline in their 2022/2023 admission process.
This was contained in a report tagged, ‘Compiled assessment of institutions on compliance with the 2022/2023 admission guidelines’, published in the Board’s Weekly Bulletin.
The Board in the report scored institutions who complied fully with admission guidelines 10 points; those with partial compliance, five points, while those institutions who failed to comply were awarded zero points.
Under the section for the conduct of full admissions on the Central Admissions Processing System(CAPS), the data showed that 88 (52 per cent) out of the 182 institutions listed conducted admissions outside of the CAPS.
The instructions comprise Universities, Polytechnics and colleges of education.
Some of the institutions include; Olabisi Onabanjo University, Yaba College of Technology, Plateau State University, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Coal City University, Crawford University, Crescent University, Ebonyi State University, Rhema University, Borno State University, Chrisland University, Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Alvan Ikoku College of Education, and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu University.
JAMB, in 2017 introduced the CAPS where all tertiary institutions upload the admission status of candidates offered admission in the institutions.
It is an online platform to streamline the admission process for tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
It has centralised and automated admission processes between candidates and their chosen tertiary institutions.
The introduction of the CAPS, JAMB said, was to ensure legitimacy and transparency in the admission process.
The Board had on several occasions warned that any admission conducted outside the CAPS is illegal, null and void.
However, many tertiary institutions have continuously flaunted this order, and have later returned to JAMB to seek “regularisation” of admission.
The Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, recently restated that any admission that will necessitate ‘regularisation’ was illegal.
Regularisation of admission is a process overseen by JAMB in Nigeria to validate and formalise the admission of students who were admitted into tertiary institutions without proper documentation or through informal means.
The examination body in 2021, issued a warning to the heads of the various tertiary institutions, warning them against illegal or irregular admission conducted by any tertiary institution as it will not entertain any process of regularisation.
The warning, which was contained in an advisory, also urged candidates to desist from accepting admissions offered by the institutions without going through the JAMB’s CAPS.
The Board stated that the warning was necessary following the quantum of applications received for candidates for condonement of illegal admissions popularly known by candidates as ‘Regularisation’ adding that such ignoble acts would no longer be tolerated by the Board.
It reiterated that all applications for First Degree, National Diploma, National Innovation Diploma and the Nigeria Certificate in Education into Full-Time, Distance Learning, Part-Time, Outreach, Sandwich, etc., must be processed only through JAMB.
The Board had noted that appropriate sanctions would be meted against defaulting institutions and their leaderships.
While it is not certain if any institution has been sanctioned for this, JAMB and UniAbuja had a faceoff in 2021 after it accused the university of illegally admitting students in the 2020/2021 admission process.
JAMB, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, declared the admission conducted by the institution as null and void.
However, the institution has denied any wrongdoing, stating that it has upheld transparency in its admission process over the years while complying with JAMB’s provision on CAPS.
JAMB also disclosed that candidates who fall into such illegal admissions would not be able to participate in the mandatory National Youth Service Scheme(NYSC).
“The Board would not succumb to pressure from any quarter to clear any candidate for the NYSC or other essential needs if he/she had accepted any admission from any institution which did not follow laid-down regulations as emphasised above,” JAMB warned in the advisory.
However, it seems JAMB’s quest to sanitize the admission process is still hitting a brick wall as it announced recently that it discovered 3,000 fake graduates with illegal certificates.