FUTA student seeks help as JAMB flags admission ‘seven years after UTME’

Olasola Jamiu, a student at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), has accused the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) of suddenly declaring his admission fake—seven years after he was admitted.

Jamiu claimed he was admitted into FUTA in 2018 after a successful Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in 2017.

He said he discovered that his admission was fake after graduation in 2024.

Jamiu said the situation denied him the chance to go for the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) after the school said “the portal rejected my details”.

The student claimed all efforts to rectify the situation was unsuccessful, including an investigation by the police, and a probe by the management of FUTA.

“After spending seven years in school, I registered for JAMB and wrote UTME in 2017 to study Civil Engineering. Since 2018, I have been a student of FUTA and I graduated in 2024,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

“However, after my graduation, JAMB said that my admission granted seven years ago was fake. They provided no evidence, only their inability to access my details on the JAMB portal.

“After my final clearance, I was supposed to be deployed by NYSC. However, the students affairs office informed me that the portal rejected my details. I was asked to verify my details on the JAMB matriculation list which indicated fake admission.

“I was infuriated by the message and so I reported at the JAMB office in Akure but I received no message. I was informed that I was supposed to be apprehended and a handed over to the DSS for investigation.

“After all failed attempt, my only option was to submit myself to the DSS, hoping that this will fast-track the resolution.

“I spent hours at the DSS office and was later transferred to the police. My school admission officer verified my admission status. I was later bailed by my friend from the police custody.

“Later that day, I was told a report will be forwarded to the JAMB office in Abuja. But up till this moment, JAMB head office in Abuja is yet to acknowledge the report. I have not given up on my quest.

“So far nothing appears to be working. I feel incapacitated. Even the vice chancellor is uncertain on what step to take. I plead for assistance from all Nigerians.”

‘INSTITUTION SHOULD FIGHT NOT THE CANDIDATE’ — JAMB REACTS

Reacting to the matter, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s spokesperson, said the board recently deleted some candidates with fake admissions from its system.

Speaking with TheCable, Benjamin clarified that if there are discrepancies in admission, it is only the concerned institution that should raise objection and not the student.

He said the institutions should be responsible for validating the status of their students.

He added that in a case where the students is leading the fight, “then there is something wrong somewhere”.

“I am aware of candidates that had fake admission that they were deleted from the system. The process is that every admission to any tertiary institution must pass through JAMB,” he said.

“So if a candidate is not on our system and then he is going to fake a false admission letter or whatever, certainly he has a fake admission letter.

“I am aware of such candidates who had claimed that they were admitted into institutions, but on our system, we do not have their record. If he feels that he is validly admitted, he should not be the one fighting.

“The institution should be the one fighting for him, that this candidate is our candidate, our graduate, we admitted him. If he is the one fighting for the validity of his admission, there is something wrong somewhere.

“The university should be the one to be at the forefront. There is no way that you produce a graduate whose identity is being questioned, and then you keep quiet.

“Of course, the universities are the ones that admit; we are a regulatory body, we have records of all admissions, and all admissions must pass through our system.

“So, if the admission did not pass through our system, it means the university never even admitted him in the first instance.”

Benjamin added that the DSS may be investigating the student for alleged forgery.

“Those that were even arrested confessed, and then they fingered some people in some institutions who were the ones that actually, in connivance with them, led them to do whatever they did,” he added.

“So, if he had gone to the DSS, it could be that he was arrested for forgery, or something close to that. Because the institution has a major stakeholder in everything we are doing.

“So, I do not see any reason why, if there is a contestation, and the school cannot come on and say, ‘look, this candidate is our candidate, he was validly admitted through JAMB’.

“We cannot just wake up and say this student is an invalid student. Of course, we will tell you, the university will be in the know of whatever we are doing.

“Our investigation will carry that along. We have a very robust inclusive system of whatever we are doing.”