UTME: No Going Back on Use of National ID Card, Says JAMB

UTME: No Going Back on Use of National ID Card, Says JAMB

By John Shiklam in Kaduna

The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has declared that there is no going back on the decision to use the National Identity Management Number (NIM) in the conduct of university matriculation examination.

Speaking on Wednesday in a meeting with computer based test centres, technical advisors and service providers at the Kongo Conference Hotel, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, Oloyede said since the decision to use NIM in the conduct of the UTME, those benefitting from registration and examination frauds have been mounting negative campaign against the use of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

He said no amount of such campaigns can dissuade JAMB from implementing the policy, adding that it is part of efforts to checkmate all forms of malpractices bedevilling the board.

He said candidates, who indulge in sharp practices pay between N200,000 to N300,000 to some people to write the exam for them, adding that several examination centres have been reduced to avoid malpractices.

He also accused some universities of denying highly rated candidates which are offered admission by JAMB and replacing them with candidates with low scores.

He warned that any admission that is not offered on a candidate’s JAMB portal is fake, stressing that all admissions must be on the profile of candidates.

Oloyede disclosed that more than 40 per cent of candidates have obtained their NIN, while others are making efforts to obtain theirs.

He said: “We have brought in NIN as a condition for registering our candidates for this year, and we are collaborating with NIMC.

“With the current campaign against NIMC, I’m not saying they are not corrupt, but for me, I could see a deliberate effort at running down NIMC so that we can think of not collaborating with them.

“Those who are benefitting from registration and examination scandals, which is a big industry, are mounting campaign against NIMC.

“I am not saying you should not be vigilant, but do not let us swallow everything people are saying about them.”

He said further that based on his interaction with the head of NIMC, “they are upright and just last week, five staff were sacked because they collected bribe”.

“So as you interact with NIMC, don’t have it in mind that you are interacting with corrupt people, no, they are not.

“That does not mean you should not be vigilant.
I will be happy if you can expose the corrupt ones among them.

“You know, there are infractions during registration and examinations and we have punished infractions we detected. We will not tolerate it no matter how little.

“Unless I’m wrong, more than 40 per cent of our candidates have obtained their NIN, while the remaining ones are running helter skelter to have theirs,” he said.

He also urged the Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPRCN) to pay particular attention to CCTV cameras.

“We are aware that some CBT centres are tampering with CCTV cameras in collaboration with our technical officers which they would not have been able to do if our technical officers have not collaborated with them because it is in the server room,” he said.

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