JAMB Speaks On Extension Of Registration For Tertiary Exams, UTME Over Naira Scarcity

The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, has said there would not be an extension of time for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

The one-month registration window for the UTME ends on February 14 and Oloyede, who spoke during an inspection tour of some JAMB computer-based centres in Osogbo, Osun State, on Friday, said the inspection was to ensure that there was no extortion of the clients.

Some parents in some of the centres visited had sought an extension of time for the registration, saying challenges posed by the redesign of naira notes which had caused a scarcity of cash, had prevented them from purchasing the personal identification number for their wards.

But the JAMB boss said, “I go round the country to monitor the registration exercise and particularly call the attention of those committing infractions; we receive reports about what is going on in the state.

“We have intelligence on the ground, so when we are told like you saw what happened with the Osun State College of Education, once you have the information (and) we now go there; if it requires my going there with my officials, I will.

“You know in the past, candidates complained of extortion but you can see we made it almost impossible for them to do so. We have deployed both human and technological means of detecting violations. You can see that the issue of no signal is not happening this year.

“So, what we are doing is improving what we did last year and that is why we are available in every part of the country to monitor strict compliance with the regulation.”

Oloyede added, “We are not considering any extension because anybody who is withdrawing money is not following our instructions. You transfer money, and when you do that, you get the PIN; we are not selling a physical PIN.”