JAMB gets new registrar

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Segun Aina, a professor of computer engineering scholar at Obafemi Awolowo University, as the new registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), replacing outgoing registrar, Ishaq Oloyede.

The appointment was announced on Thursday in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy.

Aina will assume office after the expiration of Oloyede’s second five-year tenure on July 31.

According to the presidency, the 39-year-old academic will become the youngest registrar in JAMB’s history.

Onanuga described Aina as “a distinguished academic and systems expert” with experience spanning national examination systems, digital infrastructure and institutional reform.

The presidential aide said the incoming registrar has over 15 years of experience operating “at the intersection of technology, policy, and institutional transformation,” advising federal and state governments on digital transition and operational reforms.

Aina obtained a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Kent in the United Kingdom before earning a master’s degree in Internet Computing and Network Security as well as a PhD in Digital Signal Processing from Loughborough University. He also attended the Senior Management Programme at Lagos Business School.

Before his appointment, Aina was a senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at OAU, where he held several academic and administrative positions. Reports also indicate that he served with JAMB during his National Youth Service Corps in 2010 as a computer systems engineer and analyst.

His appointment marks a generational transition at JAMB after nearly a decade under Oloyede, who was first appointed registrar in 2016 by former President Muhammadu Buhari and reappointed for a second term in 2021.

Oloyede is widely credited with introducing transparency reforms, expanding the computerisation of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) system and improving revenue remittances by the examination body during his tenure.

Aina’s technology background is expected to further accelerate JAMB’s digital transformation drive, particularly as the examination body faces increasing scrutiny over examination integrity, computer-based testing systems and admission processing across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.