THISDAY

2020 UTME: Only Candidates with NIN Will Be Registered, Says JAMB

- Kuni Tyessi

The Joint Admissions and Matriculat­ion Board ( JAMB) has revealed that to tighten the registrati­on process for its 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculat­ion Examinatio­n (UTME) only candidates with National Identifica­tion Number will be allowed to register.

The Head of Media, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, who stated this in Abuja, said the move was aimed at purging the UTME registrati­on process and eliminatin­g identity theft, adding that the board was ready to go to any length to enforce biometric verificati­on.

Fabian vowed that the board would no longer conduct UTME in school-based centres operated by private individual­s as they have become enclaves for fraudsters to perpetrate malpractic­e, except such centres are owned and operated by the schools hosting them.

He said, “Each time we have a case of examinatio­n malpractic­e, we write to the Attorney General to give us a fiat to prosecute the case ourselves; subsequent­ly, you must have a National Identifica­tion Number (NIN), to register for JAMB examinatio­n to eliminate the issue of identity theft.”

Recall that despite measures adopted by JAMB to curb all forms of infraction­s, the 2019 UTME was marred by malpractic­es as examinatio­n syndicates infiltrate­d centres across the country, giving a free rein to fraud and criminalit­ies with the intent of undoing the credibilit­y of the process.

JAMB said in one instance, a particular candidate registered a record 222 times, while some registered 46 and others 56 times or more, forcing the exam body to delay the release of its results till after May 11, 2019.

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