The Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, Senator Muntari Dandutse, and the Chairman, Senate Committee on Cybersecurity, Senator Shuaibu Afolabi Salisu, have paid glowing tributes to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) under the leadership of Prof. Is-haq Oloyede.
The senators spoke at the 2026 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions and the 6th Edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit (NATAP-M) Awards.
Speaking at the event, Dandutse stated that the Senate remained committed to supporting the laudable initiatives of the Board and the nation’s education sector in general.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his commitment to education, particularly through the establishment of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), aimed at ensuring that no child is denied access to quality education on account of financial constraints.
He also lauded the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, for introducing commendable policies designed to strengthen the education sector. According to him, his committee stands ready to support any worthwhile initiative with the necessary legislative backing.
Also, Salisu, in his remarks, described the occasion as akin to a graduation ceremony, Oloyede would soon be concluding his decade-long stewardship of the Board.
He acknowledged that the journey had not been without challenges, recalling the first Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted under Oloyede in 2017 and the attendant difficulties experienced at the time.
According to him, such challenges might have compelled some chief executives to resign, but Oloyede, with the support of the then Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, persevered, overcame the obstacles, and ultimately succeeded.
Salisu observed that, nine years later, there was ample reason to celebrate, as the system had become largely stabilised. He expressed optimism that, upon leaving office, Oloyede would be called to even greater national service in due course.
He further urged the Registrar’s eventual successor to consolidate on the achievements already recorded, particularly the remarkable increase in admission rates, which he noted had risen from about half a million successful admissions annually to well over one million.
The senator attributed the milestone largely to the foresight and administrative ingenuity of Oloyede, especially through the introduction of the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) in 2017, to which he noted he also contributed in his capacity then as an IT consultant to the Board.