THE University of Abuja has pointedly told the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, that it lacked constitutional powers to meddle in admissions into universities.
It also refuted last week’s allegations by the nation’s tertiary institutions’ examination’s body that it was engaging in “Illegal admissions”, outside the constitutional provisions.
Quoting the relevant constitutional provisions guiding the operations of the nation’s university education system, the University of Abuja in a statement by its Head, Information and University Relations, Dr Habib Yakoob, insisted that it was not out of place for it to conduct admissions without JAMB’s input.
The statement, tagged “The University of Abuja is not engaged in illegal admissions,” read: “The Universities Miscellaneous Provisions, (Amendment) Act 2003 7a (ii) states that ‘the Senate shall have powers in all academic matters, including the organization and control, teaching and research, admission of students.
“What this means is that the university, not any external body, is guaranteed the power of admissions.
”The University of Abuja has been constrained to respond to recent reports in the media that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has named the university, among others (curiously unmentioned), as being engaged in “illegal admissions” exercise because it failed to upload the list of its admission on Central Admissions Processing System, CAPS.
“The University of Abuja wishes to categorically and emphatically state that it has not conducted any illegal admissions, and has nothing to hide as far as its admission is concerned.
“It makes bold to state that, at the moment, the university has one of the best and most transparent systems of admission in the country.