The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has intensified efforts to maintain the integrity of admissions by verifying credentials directly with awarding institutions, including foreign universities. This year, the board confirmed that it identified about four or five cases where foreign institutions reported that the degree presented by a candidate was not theirs.

Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the JAMB registrar, disclosed this development during an interview on Good Morning Nigeria, a Nigerian Television Authority programme. He noted that the board has strengthened verification processes for various programmes to prevent result falsification.

"Since 2023, annually, the rates have gone down. Many people are no longer applying for direct entry because they know we are supervising thoroughly and every year, this year, we have arrested, we have caught 77, but we did more prevention," he stated.

The registrar added that while checking JUPEB and IJMB at the point of entry has made it impossible to forge those results, the board remains vigilant regarding degrees. "That’s why we made one of the gurus of the universities to help us not to be diverted, and every year," he explained.

Shifting focus to the main UTME admissions, Professor Oloyede urged parents and candidates to challenge decisions if they believe they have been unfairly denied admission despite having good scores. He explained that the Central Admission Processing System ensures a transparent process.

"If you find anybody, if you are sure of yourself, you have a score, and this is the UTME score of my child, and you know that you ought to be admitted, and you are not admitted, protest to us because CAPS has made everything easy," he noted.

He stated that since 2017, there has not been any reported problem with CAPS, describing the system as fully capable of managing admissions without interference. The registrar expressed concern that many parents still resort to illegal means because they have "climbed the ladder to illegality" and believe no other path exists.

"People are so daring, and the parents, because they have climbed the ladder to illegality, they believe there is no other way," he added.

He shared instances where parents sent him their children’s scores, asking for help, only for the candidates to be admitted without his intervention.

"I’ve seen many people who sent their children’s scores to me and asked what they could do. I tell them I will do nothing, and the candidate is admitted, and they thank me. I did nothing," Prof Oloyede disclosed. "The answer to your question was that that was possible because at that time, we were not checking the A'level and it’s not part of primarily our duty. That’s why we don’t want to be diverted," he concluded in the video posted by NTA on Tuesday.