The Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede has said that the board is targeting 1.8 million candidates to register for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) in the country and there will be no extension after 14 February.
While inspecting Computer Based Test centres in Ilorin, Oloyede said, “while it is expected that about 1.8 million candidates will register for the examination, only 445,081 have so far registered”.
Oloyede said that there would be no extension of the 14 February deadline for the ongoing registration for the examination.
He added that while the board had made facilities available for the registration of 100, 000 candidates per day, the average number of registration per day at present was 61,000.
He further revealed that JAMB is planning to build a multi-million Naira zonal office for Kwara which has been captured in its budget.
The Registrar said: “We do not expect any extension. As of Sunday, 445,081 people have registered out of the 1.8 million candidates that we are expecting.
“We have gone halfway but you know some of our people will come at the last hour. But there is no room for an extension because we have made provisions for the registration of 100,000 candidates per day and we are doing 60,000 daily now.
“So the candidates are the ones not turning up well enough. For those who want to write a mock, the space is almost filled and when that happens, we don’t want to turn the mock into another examination. When the numbers are up to a quarter of the candidates, we will stop it. Now, we have about 144,000 who have indicated interest to write the mock”, he added.
Answering questions from journalists, the registrar said the board would never allow the CBT centres to exploit candidates registering for the UTME.
During the tour, the Registrar announced the suspension of a Computer Based Test centre named Damdav in Ilorin for using only one camera which makes the registration not safe from mix-ups of passports.
Meanwhile, the board has announced that the provision of email addresses is now compulsory for UTME registration.
JAMB made this known in a statement released on Monday by its Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin, adding that no candidate will be registered henceforth, without an email address provided.
The statement partly read: “Furthermore, e-mail provides more flexibility in communication and is a more professional way of reaching out to candidates.
“Candidates are, therefore, advised to get their genuine e-mail addresses before proceeding with UTME registration.
“In addition, candidates are to ensure that their passwords are kept securely, as the board does not retrieve lost email passwords or change email addresses once registered”.
