President Bola Tinubu has appointed Professor Segun Aina as the new Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, ending weeks of speculation over who would succeed Professor Is-haq Oloyede when his two-term tenure expires on July 31. The announcement was made Wednesday by Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga.
Aina is a Professor of Computer Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Kent and a PhD in Digital Signal Processing from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. He turns 40 in July and will become the youngest person to occupy the registrar's chair in JAMB's history, having already made history at 39 as one of Nigeria's youngest professors in his field.
His path to this appointment traces back further than most would expect. Aina first encountered JAMB during his National Youth Service, working within the board's admissions infrastructure at a foundational level. That experience, the presidency noted, shaped a career spent at the intersection of technology, policy, and institutional reform. He has since advised federal and state governments on digital transition and system design, and consulted for examination bodies including NECO and NABTEB.
The weight of the appointment is not lost on anyone familiar with what Oloyede built. His tenure reshaped JAMB's financial accountability and pushed the board's operations deeper into digital territory. Tinubu, in announcing the successor, said he expects Aina to take the organisation "beyond the laudable heights" of his predecessora high bar stated plainly.
JAMB processes over 1.5 million UTME candidates annually. It is, by any measure, the most consequential gateway in Nigerian education. Aina arrives at a moment when that gateway is under pressure, the 2026 examination cycle attracted significant public criticism over technical failures and the integrity of results. His entire professional identity is built around fixing exactly those kinds of problems.
Whether a systems expert can translate that expertise into institutional leadership at scale remains the open question. The appointment suggests the presidency believes he can.
ILGM Newsroom | May 21, 2026
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