Former JAMB Registrar Oloyede Says "Snake never swallowed money in JAMB"

The immediate past registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has dismissed the widely circulated claim that a snake swallowed millions of naira belonging to the examination body, describing the incident as a fabricated story that was wrongly linked to JAMB.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE News, Oloyede clarified that the controversial incident occurred before he assumed office as JAMB Registrar and that his involvement was limited to handling the matter after taking over the leadership of the Board.

The controversy dates back to 2018, when a sales clerk at JAMB's Makurdi office in Benue State reportedly claimed that a mysterious snake had swallowed ₦36 million generated from the sale of scratch cards. The explanation, which surfaced during an audit into missing funds, quickly went viral and became one of Nigeria's most talked-about public sector scandals.

Oloyede said the account was so extraordinary that he insisted it be recorded for documentation.

"The snake matter did not occur when I was there. It was just that I had the fortune or misfortune that I had to address it. The matter had occurred before I assumed office."

He explained that the decision to record the official's narration later proved valuable when the incident attracted nationwide attention.

"I insisted that we must record it because it was unbelievable. When the matter became a national issue, the tape was there. Even myself, I would have disbelieved myself if we did not have the recording of the narration of what happened."

The former JAMB boss stressed that no snake was ever found because the claim itself was never true.

"There was no snake… Some people will say snakes were swallowing naira in JAMB, but they know that was just a creation of a mind. Many people took it literally and believed snakes swallowed money. The reality was that that never happened."

His remarks come years after the incident became a national catchphrase often used to mock implausible explanations for missing public funds