JAMB are not to be blame if best student misses choice varsity — Board

Olaleye Aluko, Abuja

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has said that it should not be blamed that the University of Lagos’ age stipulation may disallow the highest scorer in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, Ezeunala Franklin, from getting admitted.

The 15-year-old boy had scored 347 in the 2019 exercise and picked UNILAG as his first choice, which has 16 years as its minimum age for admission.

JAMB said on Sunday that university regulations on admission were sacrosanct and could not be flouted by the board or by candidates.

The board noted in its weekly bulletin that while it was commendable that Franklin emerged the best, his “emergence should not be an excuse to flout the rules.”

The board said, “It is obvious that no nation has enough spaces for every candidate aspiring for tertiary education, hence the need to define parameters to ensure that equity and fairness are engendered in the admission exercise.

“The case in point is the result of the just-concluded 2019 UTME which has thrown up Ezeunala Franklin, as the highest scorer. He had picked the University of Lagos as his first choice. Coincidentally, the University of Lagos admits only candidates who are 16 years and above. This is their rule and it is expected that the candidates and the public abide by it.