A graduate of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Olasola Jamiu, is appealing for public intervention after the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) invalidated his university admission seven years after he sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Jamiu, who wrote the UTME in 2017 and gained admission into FUTA in 2018, said he completed his academic programme and graduated in 2024. However, he was shocked to learn that his details were rejected on the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) portal, prompting a verification process that revealed his admission had been flagged as fake.
Jamiu explained that after undergoing final clearance, the student affairs office informed him that his name was missing from the JAMB matriculation list, rendering him ineligible for NYSC mobilisation.
“I was told to check the JAMB portal, and it indicated that my admission was fake,” he said.
Despite efforts to resolve the matter—including investigations by the police and FUTA’s management—no resolution has been reached. In a desperate move, Jamiu voluntarily submitted himself to both the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS), where he was reportedly detained for several hours before being released.
“I thought handing myself over might lead to a breakthrough, but nothing has worked. I feel helpless. I’m calling on Nigerians to help me find justice,” he pleaded.
Reacting to the incident, JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin confirmed that the board had recently delisted students with irregular admissions as part of a cleanup exercise. He emphasised that institutions are responsible for raising objections on behalf of wrongly flagged students.
“If a student is the one pushing the fight for recognition, then something is amiss,” he said.
This development comes amid ongoing reforms by JAMB to improve transparency and curb admission fraud. The board recently announced that UTME candidates for the 2025 cycle can apply to newly approved universities across the country.
Jamiu’s case has raised broader questions about institutional accountability, student verification processes, and the fate of graduates affected by such administrative oversights.