Despite graduating with first-class honours from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Jamiu Owodunni Basola remains unable to proceed with his life as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) refuses to recognise his admission—effectively blocking him from participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and other post-graduation opportunities.
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Basola, who earned a 4.41 CGPA from FUTA’s Department of Civil Engineering in 2023, discovered the issue during NYSC’s portal verification process in August 2024. His academic record was flagged because his name could not be found on JAMB’s Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), which has been mandatory for all university admissions since 2017.
“I went to check my name on the JAMB matriculation list, and it wasn’t there,” Basola said. “I tried to access my portal and retrieve my documents, but I couldn’t log in anymore.”
Basola’s attempts to resolve the issue led him to FUTA, JAMB’s Akure office, and eventually, the Nigeria Police Force. After months of investigation, both FUTA and the police submitted formal reports to JAMB confirming that Basola was duly admitted in the 2017/2018 session and had completed his academic programme successfully.
Olugbenga Adetona, an official in FUTA’s admissions unit, told FIJ that the university worked with police investigators to verify Basola’s admission. “We went with the police, submitted the documents to JAMB, and even wrote a follow-up reminder. We’ve got no single response,” Adetona said.
FUTA later issued a formal statement signed by its Director of Corporate Communications, Adegbenro Adebanjo, declaring that Basola’s admission was legitimate. “The university was invited by the Police and all documents pertaining to his admission were presented for scrutiny,” the statement read. “The Police wrote their report and submitted it to JAMB. The ball is now in the court of JAMB.”
However, JAMB remains unmoved. In a strongly worded statement on Sunday, the Board’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said Basola was “an unknown entity” to JAMB and that his case was part of a wave of irregular admissions conducted outside of the CAPS system.
“While there may be no dispute regarding his attendance at the university, JAMB asserts that he is not admitted by its records as he did not follow due process,” Benjamin said. “CAPS was designed to stop illegal admissions. There is no record that Basola was processed at all.”
He further warned that some institutions had previously issued fake admission letters and questioned how Basola obtained documents that allegedly originated from JAMB. “Emotions have no place in the enforcement of laws,” he added, dismissing appeals based on Basola’s orphan status and disadvantaged background.
Basola’s ordeal has drawn attention to systemic issues in Nigeria’s higher education and admission system. Despite verification by his university and clearance from law enforcement, JAMB’s refusal to revisit the case has left the graduate in bureaucratic limbo for nearly two years.
“I did everything right,” Basola said. “I passed UTME, went through the university process, and graduated with a first class. Now they’re telling me I don’t exist?”
He recounted being locked out of JAMB’s portal, detained briefly during police investigations, and repeatedly turned away from JAMB’s Abuja headquarters after attempting to submit documents and appeal his case.
“I travelled to Abuja several times, wrote to the Ministry of Education, and got media attention. Still, JAMB has refused to open my file or let me speak to the registrar,” he said.
While FUTA has pledged continued cooperation with JAMB to resolve the matter, the Board maintains that it cannot retroactively insert a name into CAPS—raising questions about the fate of other students who may have similarly fallen through the cracks.
Basola’s story is not isolated. Earlier reports by FIJ documented how JAMB accused 17 tertiary institutions of offering “fake admissions,” leading to arrests and extortion of affected students. Though Basola has not been accused of wrongdoing, his case has been swept into a wider clampdown on irregular admissions.
FIJ also reported that JAMB recently acknowledged technical glitches affecting 157 CBT centres during the 2025 UTME, further fueling concerns about the Board’s reliability and transparency.
At the time of this report, calls to Deputy Superintendent Michael, the police officer assigned to Basola’s case, went unanswered.
As Basola waits for his life to begin, questions continue to mount over JAMB’s accountability, CAPS integrity, and the future of students trapped in similar bureaucratic nightmares.
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