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After a decade marked by sweeping reforms, record-breaking revenue remittances, anti-corruption victories and occasional controversies, Professor Ishaq Oloyede has officially stepped down as Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), bringing to a close one of the most consequential tenures in the agency’s history.
The former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) bows out after serving the maximum two terms of five years each, leaving behind a transformed examination body that many believe has become more transparent and accountable than ever before.
As Professor Segun Aina takes over on August 1, education stakeholders are reflecting on the highs and lows of Oloyede’s 10-year stewardship—a period that redefined Nigeria’s admission system while also exposing the challenges of managing one of the country’s largest computer-based examinations.
Established in 1978 to coordinate admissions into Nigerian universities, JAMB has grown into the nation’s central admission agency for universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and monotechnics. Yet, before Oloyede’s appointment in August 2016 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the board had become synonymous with allegations of corruption, admission racketeering, examination malpractice and financial leakages.
Determined to restore public confidence, Oloyede wasted no time in shaking up the system.
One of his first actions was to order a comprehensive financial audit that uncovered widespread irregularities. The exercise triggered national outrage after a JAMB staff member in Benue claimed that a snake had mysteriously swallowed N36 million realised from scratch card sales—a bizarre explanation that became one of Nigeria’s most memorable corruption scandals.
The incident led to investigations and prosecutions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), while Oloyede intensified reforms aimed at eliminating financial fraud and tightening accountability across the board.
His uncompromising stance on transparency soon began to yield remarkable results.
Within a few years, JAMB evolved from an agency that reportedly remitted only about N50 million to the Federal Government over a five-year period into one of Nigeria’s highest-performing revenue-generating institutions, returning billions of naira to the national treasury. The board also reported a drastic reduction in internal fraud, with officials attributing the feat to strengthened financial controls, automation and stricter oversight.
Beyond the finances, Oloyede accelerated the digital transformation of JAMB by improving the Computer-Based Test (CBT) system, strengthening the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), sanitising admission processes and reducing opportunities for manipulation by institutions and admission racketeers.
The reforms restored confidence in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), with millions of candidates participating annually under a more transparent admission framework.
However, Oloyede’s tenure was not without turbulence.
In recent years, technical glitches, server failures, biometric verification challenges and network disruptions affected examinations in some centres, drawing criticism from candidates, parents and education stakeholders. Although JAMB organised rescheduled examinations and introduced corrective measures, the incidents raised questions about the reliability of the country’s expanding digital examination infrastructure.
Despite the setbacks, many observers agree that Oloyede fundamentally changed the face of JAMB.
His administration is widely credited with ending entrenched corruption, promoting merit-based admissions, strengthening institutional accountability and positioning the board as a model of public sector reform.
As he hands over the reins after 10 years in office, Oloyede leaves behind an institution vastly different from the one he inherited—more transparent, financially stronger and technologically advanced, though still confronting the challenges of managing a nationwide digital examination system.
For his successor, Professor Segun Aina, the task is clear: preserve the gains of the reform era while addressing the operational shortcomings that occasionally tested public confidence.
For Nigerians, Oloyede’s exit marks more than a leadership transition—it signals the end of a defining chapter in JAMB’s history, one that transformed the board from a corruption-plagued agency into a benchmark for accountability, even as it navigated the growing pains of digital innovation.
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