2020 UTME: JAMB registers 700,000 candidates in 2 weeks

Monday, January 27, 2020 at 4:19 PM by Onyirioha Nnamdi

- An amazing number of young Nigerians have indicated interest in the 2020 UTME

- JAMB has said that this is coming barely two weeks after its online portal was opened

- The board said that it has less than a month for candidates to register before the deadline elapses

Not less than 700,000 candidates have already been registered for the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The disclosure was made by the national spokesman of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Fabian Benjamin, on Sunday, January 26, Nigerian Tribune reports.

He said that JAMB has blacklisted about 41 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres following allegations of fraud and deficiency on the part of technicians.

JAMB's spokesman said: “It has come to the knowledge of the Board that some elite schools are using the name of the Board to extort a huge sum of money from parents under the guise that the Board has ordered such payments.

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“The Board wishes to make it clear that unlike the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (NECO) and others, the UTME and the Direct Entry (DE) registration and examination exercises are not school-based."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the use of National Identification Number (NIN) would no longer be a prerequisite for the 2020 UTME and direct entry examination as it had been suspended till 2021.

Recall that the JAMB had announced in 2019 that it would no longer register candidates who do not have the National Identity Number for the UTME.

According to reports, the board made the announcement of the suspension of NIN at an ongoing press conference, at its head office, at Bwari, Abuja.

It, however, said NIN would be a necessary requirement in the 2021 UTME and Direct Entry registrations.

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According to JAMB’s registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who broke the news at the press conference, said NIN was suspended due to “technical reasons”, and to also allow enough time for candidates to acquire it.

He also cited ongoing difficulties being faced by candidates in the NIN registration.

In another development, Legit.ng reported how young Nigerians hoping to sit for the 2020 UTME on Friday, January 10, gathered at the Lagos office of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC) to register for their NIN.

NIN was a requirement to write the UTME exams according to JAMB.

JAMB registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede told journalists last year that the move is aimed towards cracking down on impersonators and other identity-related examination malpractice.

The move by JAMB, however, seems to have failed as getting the NIN is now a struggle amongst prospective candidates.

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