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The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said it will not release the results of the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) immediately, unlike it did in 2017.
The examination is scheduled to begin on Friday, March 9, to March 17.
JAMB registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, said this on Wednesday during a press conference titled “Conduct of the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination” in Abuja.
According to the registrar, the reason for the delay in releasing the results is to review the activities of the candidates and to minimise the number of cancellations.
“We want to monitor everything that happens through our CCT cameras. Last year, we proved a point that there is nothing extraordinary in the immediate release of results but we had to cancel some results when we found out what happened in some centres. So, if we have to take two or three days to look at the conduct of the candidates before releasing the result so as to minimise cancellation, then we will do so”, he said
Mr. Oloyede said no computer-based centre is allowed to collect any cash from the candidates adding that the board will release the agreed sum of N600 per candidate due to the centres to them.
He also said the board will not relent in its effort to tackle examination irregularities.
“It is fraudulent to engage in multiple registrations, although the new system of capturing live pictures through cameras instead of scanning of pictures, biometrics capturing of fingers and the order of arrangement of names has curtailed incidences of multiple registration”, he said
The registrar urged candidates to adhere strictly to the date and time allocated to them for examination. He said any candidate who fails to turn up on schedule for his or her examination automatically misses the examination.
“The board is worried about the incessant cases of candidates being defrauded by syndicates, during the registration period. We arrested some of these syndicates. We call on all of you to be on the watch and call on us where such in formation is made available to you”, Mr. Oloyede said.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the board said 1,662,762 candidates registered for the 2018 UTME within a period of of two months as against 1,718,425 candidates who registered within one month ”with an extension of two weeks” in 2017.
The board said the figure for 2018 shows a decrease of 55,642 applicants, which represents a decrease of 3.2 per cent.