ABUJA – African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has vowed to abolish the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and replace the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with a voluntary National Job Corps if elected President of Nigeria.

Sowore made the declaration in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, describing both institutions as outdated and no longer suited to the needs of young Nigerians. He argued that reforms should prioritise merit-based education, employment opportunities and practical skills development.

Outlining his education policy, the AAC presidential candidate said admissions into tertiary institutions should be handled directly by universities, polytechnics and colleges of education without the involvement of a central examination body.

"When I become President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, JAMB will be abolished. Admission into tertiary institutions should be determined by the institutions themselves under a transparent, merit-based system, not by another layer of bureaucracy," he stated.

According to Sowore, higher institutions should enjoy full autonomy in admitting qualified candidates, insisting that the current admission process creates unnecessary bureaucracy and delays.

On the future of the NYSC, the former presidential candidate proposed scrapping the compulsory one-year national service scheme and replacing it with a two-year voluntary National Job Corps designed to equip young people with employable skills and guaranteed work opportunities.

He said participants in the proposed programme would receive meaningful employment, entrepreneurship support, practical training and pathways to permanent careers.

"The National Youth Service Corps, in its current form, will be scrapped. In its place, we will establish a two-year, voluntary National Job Corps that guarantees participants meaningful employment, practical skills, entrepreneurship support, and pathways into permanent careers," he said.

Sowore maintained that Nigerian youths require economic opportunities rather than compulsory government programmes.

"Nigeria's young people do not need more compulsory schemes. They need opportunities, jobs, skills, and the freedom to choose their future," he added.

His comments came barely a day after the Federal Executive Council approved a comprehensive reform of the NYSC, the first major review of the scheme since it was established in 1973.

The approved reforms include extending the orientation camp from three to six weeks, introducing 11 specialised career streams, restructuring deployment to reflect prevailing security realities, replacing the traditional passing-out parade with a graduation ceremony, and strengthening skills acquisition, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. The reforms also provide for civilian leadership of the scheme, improved camp facilities, technology-driven deployment and amendments to the NYSC Act to give legal backing to the changes.

The Federal Government said the reforms are intended to transform the 53-year-old scheme into a productivity-driven institution capable of equipping young Nigerians with practical skills while supporting Nigeria's ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.

Sowore also criticised JAMB despite the examination body's recent admission reforms, including the discontinuation of affiliated degree programmes in Colleges of Education from the 2026/2027 academic session, the introduction of new admission pathways for affected candidates, and exemptions for applicants seeking admission into National Certificate in Education and selected agriculture-related National Diploma programmes from sitting the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

While JAMB has maintained its minimum admission age policy and continued efforts to eliminate illegal admissions through its Central Admissions Processing System, Sowore insisted that tertiary institutions should be solely responsible for admitting students without the board acting as an intermediary.

The proposal has already generated widespread debate, with supporters describing it as a bold attempt to overhaul Nigeria's education and youth development systems, while critics argue that the abolition of JAMB and the NYSC would require extensive legal and institutional reforms.