Tag: JAMB Registrar

  • UTME: Mock exam to hold Saturday 

    UTME: Mock exam to hold Saturday 

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has fixed Saturday 29th (this weekend), for the conduct of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) mock examination in some selected centres across the country for interested candidates.

    JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede made the announcement during a workshop to train its officials for the coming UTME examination in Abuja on Wednesday.

    He said the mock examination would take place in 633 computer based test (CBT) centres across the country.

    The examination body had announced the suspension of the conduct of its mock examination earlier scheduled to hold Saturday, 8 this month in some selected centers across the country indefinitely, blaming the postponement on failure from its technical partners.

    But JAMB registrar said the agency was trying to conduct its examinations in the best way that would not be wasteful or make Nigeria inferior in the community of examination bodies.

    Prof. Oloyede said: “We have identified those technical hitches and quickly made necessary correction and tighten loose nuts. As a matter of fact, a trial mock was conducted last week in 10 states and the exercise was 99 percent successful

    “All we are trying to do is to do things the best way that will not be wasteful, that will not make Nigeria inferior in the community of examination bodies. What we are trying to do is find the most efficient way of conducting our examination.

    “I believe whatever can work in another place can work in Nigeria. For us, what we are trying to do is to give the best of our services to this great nation of ours. I need not be the registrar of JAMB if there will be no change positively.

    “We believe that come next Saturday (this Saturday), we will do our best. What we have done now is that last Monday we conducted a preliminary mock in ten places across the country and it was 99 percent success. We conducted it in Sokoto, Abuja, Lagos, Ilorin, Nasarawa, Lokoja and we tested the technology again it was working but it worked because of the cooperation of all.

    “I don’t expect full perfection from all the system. There would be saboteurs that might work against us and that was why we have plans A, B and C, in addition to several other backups in case any of our plan fails. At the end of the day, it would be said of me that I have done my best.”

    He alleged that powerful forces was working hard to derail the smooth conduct of the examination nationwide, vowing that JAMB would not return to status quo.

    “People are head bent on creating problems where none exist. I believe their toes are very big and I don’t mind stepping on them. Believe that at the end of the day Nigerians will know the truth and who to appreciate and who to condemn.

    “So I expect all other stakeholders involved in the system not to sabotage the efforts of the board but reciprocate such gesture and goodwill so that we could give Nigerians the best of services they deserve,” he said.

     

  • Unilorin dismisses allegations against VC, JAMB registrar

    Unilorin dismisses allegations against VC, JAMB registrar

    The University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) has denied allegations of fraud levelled against its Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali and his predecessor, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, by the Academic Union of Universities (ASUU).

    UNILORIN described the allegations as infantile lies, “largely empty and merely rehearsed to make it look real”.

    Some ASUU officers in the Southwest petitioned Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accusing Ambali and Oloyede of pension fund scam, running into N2.5 billion, and called on the anti-graft agency to  probe the matter.

    But the university management dismissed the petition, saying those behind it were “enemies of progress who are aghast at the pace of progress  being recorded by the university daily”.

    A statement by UNILORIN’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Kunle Akogun, said there was nothing new in the allegations. He noted that “the same fellows made the same allegations last August while shamefacedly kicking against the well-merited appointment of Prof. Oloyede as registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

    “And, of course, no one took them seriously, as even President Muhammadu Buhari is not unaware of the due diligence credentials of the successive administrations of the University of Ilorin.

    “What the administration of Prof. Oloyede did was what the law and ICPC directed all universities to do: that instead of the 7.5 per cent being hitherto deducted from the basic salary of workers, the deduction ought to have been from the gross emolument.”

    Akogun added that the clarification had since guided the management’s action and the deductions were being credited to the Pension Fund Administrators’ (PFA) accounts as and when due, till the government started deducting from source.

    “It is also a fallacy to allege that the university’s management did not carry the unions along in all these. The truth is that management met with the unions on the new development and all parties agreed that the PFAs should be credited the full 7.5 per cent. It was the initial under-deduction that was spread for payment over a 24-month period. This had since been concluded a couple of years ago,” Akogun added.

    The spokesperson, who described the petitioners as “disgruntled elements” and “remnants of the notorious 419”, noted that their activities within the last one year had been targeted at disrupting the university’s uninterrupted academic calendar.

    He urged the EFCC to discountenance the petition, noting that “we are certain that the anti-graft agency will duly consign it to where it rightly belongs: the trash can”.

  • I did not divert pension funds as VC, says JAMB Registrar

    I did not divert pension funds as VC, says JAMB Registrar

    The Registrar Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board ( JAMB), Professor Is-haq O. Oloyede, yesterday rubbished reports that he diverted pension funds during his tenure as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin.
    He also said he was never involved in any N3.5billion fraud at any point in time.
    He said he has never in his life collected bribe or inflated contracts.
    Oloyede was reacting yesterday to a petition sent to the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) against him and the current Vice Chancellor of UNILORIN by some members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities( ASUU).
    The JAMB Registrar attributed the petition to some of the lecturers of the University of Ilorin who were sacked but later reinstated on the order of the Supreme Court.
    He insisted that he did not at any time tamper with the pensions of staff as a Vice Chancellor.
    He said: “The Pension Act of 2004 provided that 7.5 per cent of emoluments should be deducted from staff salaries and remitted into their pension accounts with Pension Funds Administrators (PFAs).
    “Most universities, including the University of Ilorin, based the calculation of 7.5 per cent on basic salary and transport allowance. This was the case between July 2004 and December 2006 before I became Vice-Chancellor.
    “ I know no PFA and if salaries were deducted and saved in employees’ accounts, I would not be the beneficiary.
    “Then, from January 2007, the Government that is matching the employees’ contribution with another 7.5 per cent directed that the deduction should be based on Consolidated Pay.
    “Some universities were compelled by the fake and fraudulent campus hyenas not to comply with the directive of 2007.
    “About two years into my tenure, my attention was drawn to the new decision which was of course advantageous to workers whose higher sum was being equally matched by the Government.
    “I convened a meeting of stakeholders including the Unions on the Government directive and all parties agreed not only to commence the higher savings (which Government doubles rather than double lower contributions) but also to double the difference for a certain number of months to ensure full compliance with effect from the stipulated January 2007.
    “I summoned the Ilorin representatives of all the PFAs to reiterate the date of compliance from when higher matching additions from Government should also be credited to each contributor’s account.
    “Any averagely educated person would understand who the beneficiaries of the compliance are, who for their tomorrow sacrifice a part of today’s comfort rather than the unreasonable agitators who insist on consuming tomorrow.
    “Some universities under the spell of some club crawlers do not comply to the eventual disadvantage of their unfortunate retirees and perhaps to the advantage of clever PFAs.
    “If those who parade doctoral degrees cannot understand this simple logic, may God save Nigeria from the anarchists. I as Vice-Chancellor complied and I believe few other universities did. How that would benefit me personally baffles me.
    He said he has never in his life collected bribe or inflated contracts.
    Oloyede added: “I am extremely selective in accepting gifts from even personal friends. My needs are limited and my legitimate income is sufficient to spend on my volunteer work. I have never in my life collected bribe, inflated contracts, extorted anyone nor accepted gifts beyond “Thank You greeting cards” from any contractor, dead or alive.
    “As Vice-Chancellor, I started the practice of publishing the financial transactions of the University every Monday in a publication circulated far and wide by hand and online. This has happily been sustained by my successor to-date.
    “Those who have skeletons in their cupboards don’t choose to publish their financial details. I am aware many universities don’t do so till today and the charlatans who make frivolous allegations against me should mention their mentors who do so.
    “Information Technology is good to determine the quality of the hirelings assembled to assassinate my character. The only one I faintly know among them led his pastor and his father-in-law, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, to me in order to mount pressure on me to offer his wife, the Vice-Chancellor’s daughter, a temporary appointment as an Assistant Lecturer. I bulged to pressure out of deference to the father-in-law (because the Department could do without an additional lecturer) and the man of God. But soon thereafter, this character became a strong advocate of withdrawal of the power of temporary appointment of the Vice-Chancellor!
    “I do not claim perfection as it is the exclusive preserve of the Almighty Allah but I dare say I stand on a higher moral pedestal than “the 49 liars” and their masters. God will continue to keep them busy and they shall continue to lament their failure at the University of Ilorin and in life precipitated by their own inner insolvency. The barking of dogs does not affect the flight of a plane.
    “This statement is just to re-assure my admirers that the allegations against me are like pure wind with no solidity. I remain who I have ever been by the special grace of Allah, the Almighty.
    “Lastly, my explanation does not foreclose the possibility of legal action against the authors of the campaign of calumny against me and their willing collaborators.

  • Post Utme: no written test for 2016  Admissions, says Jamb Registrar

    Post Utme: no written test for 2016 Admissions, says Jamb Registrar

    The registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-Haq O. Oloyede yesterday in Kano said that admission into the Federal tertiary institutions in the country must comply with the national policy.

    Oloyede, however, warned that no candidate must emanate from any other source (JAMB inclusive), outside the list prepared and recommended by the institutions.

    Prof. Oloyede who disclosed this during the First Technical Committee on admission to First Choice Institutions held at the Bayero University, Kano (BUK), said that the Senate/ Academic of each institution has the prerogative of admitting candidates, “but this must be in adherence to the national policy.

    He added that, “for the first time, there won’t be written post  Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) test  for candidates, seeking admission into Nigerian Universities this year.”

    However, he insisted that all other processes should and would be as they have always been.

    In his address at the First Technical Committee meeting on the 2016 Admissions to first choice Institutions held at the Bayero University  Kano new site campus on Monday.

    According to Oloyede, the Senate or Academic Board of each institution reserves the prerogative of admitting candidates of their respective institutions, subject of course only to national policies.

    Among others, the policies include, guidelines stipulated by the proprietors of the institution on 60/40

    (Science/Art) ratio for conventional Universities, 80/20 (Science/Arts) ratio for non-conventional Universities and use of 2016 JAMB/UTME results print out for all candidates, who scored 180 and above.

    In his remarks, BUK VC, Professor Mohammad Yahuza Bello, said 64,224 applicants were seeking admission into BUK.

    Also Bello disclosed that out of the 64,244 candidate, who applied for admission into the University, 21,000 made the cut off points, adding that after the screening, only 6,500 would be offered admission.

    In his speech, Kano State Governor, Dr Abdulllahi Umar Ganduje, represented by his Deputy, Professor Hafiz Abubakar, promised that the Kano State Government would support all JAMB policies, meant to facilitate smooth admission of students.

  • Senate summons JAMB  Registrar over admission policy

    Senate summons JAMB Registrar over admission policy

    •Lawmakers ask board to increase result validity

    THE Senate has mandated its Committee on Education to invite the leadership of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over its admission policy.

    The upper chamber also asked the board to increase the validity of its results from one to three years to reduce the number of applicants sitting for its examination yearly.

    It asked the committee to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the new policy, including all allegations of favouritism as well as to review the power of JAMB in relation to admission.

    It urged JAMB to consult with Parents Teachers Association, Academic Staff Union of Universities and others in the education sector with a view to coming up with a friendlier, holistic, comprehensive and sustainable admission policy.

    This followed the adoption of a motion on “JAMB’s new admission policy” sponsored by Senator Joshua Lidani (Gombe South) and seven others.

    Lidani, in his lead debate, reminded the Senate that JAMB is a board created by an Act of the National Assembly in 1989 to administer a centralised admission system for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

    The lawmaker said that he is aware that JAMB at its Combined Policy Meeting held on July 14, 2015 in Abuja, announced the adoption of a policy whereby candidates of universities with surplus applicants for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are reassigned to other universities with lower number of candidates than their capacities.

    Lidani said he was concerned that following the announcement of the new policy, the board was faced with a series of massive protest.

    The lawmaker also said that the new policy runs contrary to the letters and spirit of Section 5(1)©111 of the JAMB Act, which requires the Board to take into account preferences of the candidates in their choices of schools.

    After the debate of the motion, Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki thanked the movers.

    Saraki noted that a lot of important issues were raised in the course of the debate that required to be addressed by the Education Committee.

    He reiterated that the committee should invite the leadership of JAMB to respond to issues raised.