Posted on: 08:15 Sat, 19 Mar 2016



THE Registrar and Chief Executive
of the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board, Professor
‘Dibu Ojerinde, has faulted calls for
cancellation of the Computer-Based
Test (CBT) mode of the Unified
Tertiary Matriculation Examination
(UTME), saying this will not be in
the interest of the candidates,
parents and government.

He said the protest in Lagos, a few
days ago allegedly by UTME
candidates demanding for
cancellation of the results of the
examination was sponsored to
discredit the good work the Board
is doing in the efforts to strengthen
the quality of tertiary education in
the country.

Ojerinde, who briefed newmen on
Friday, in Abuja, on the conduct of
the 2016 UTME, said conduct of
public examination in Nigeria has
become a war.

He disclosed that the organiser of
the protest who incidentally was an
owner of a centre designated for
the examination was aggrieved
because he was not allowed by the
JAMB officials at the centre to
perpetrate examination
malpractice.

Ojerinde explained how a JAMB
official at the Lagos Centre was
threatened after rejecting N6
million bribe offer, saying this
prompted the relocation of the
candidates at the centre to Moro in
Osun State.

Over 1,592,44 candidates registered
for the 2016 UTME nationwide and
in seven foreign countries.

He added that the owner of the
centre, in the effort to justify
money he collected illegally from
parents and candidates organised
the protest in Lagos.

It was also gathered that a lady who
was arrested at the centre for
impersonation, confessed that she
and others were paid N25,000 each
to do the job.

Ojerinde said the actual candidates
that sat for the examination was
1,546,633 representing 97.12 per
cent, while a total of 23,577
candidates absented from the
examination representing 1.48 per
cent of the total number candidates
that registered for 2016 UTME.
He disclosed that a total of 145,704
representing 9.1 per cent of
candidates had the issue of multiple
results, which the Board has tried
to sort out.

The JAMB Registrar, further
disclosed that results of Uromi
approved UTME Centre in Edo
State, were being withheld as a
result of massive irregularities and
invasion of the centre by armed
hoodlums.

A JAMB official in charge of the
centre was said to have rejected an
offer of N1 million “corporation
fee” (bribe), allegedly by the owner
of the centre in collaboration with
some parents and candidates to
allow them perpetrate examination
malpractices.

He disclosed that the armed
invaders were over 20 persons,
adding that timely intervention of
the military saved the day and that
the candidates for the centre were
relocated to Auchi, where the
remaining examinations were held
with the supervision of soldiers.

Ojerinde, however, admitted that
there were some challenges in the
first and second days of the
examination leading to relocation
of a total of 59,000 candidates to
new centres and 16 States of the
Federation.

He promised that special
arrangement would be made for
those who were genuinely affected
by the relocation to sit for the
examination at a rescheduled date
to be announced to them.

He said: “I want to say it here that
conducting examination is
becoming a war; it is already a
war. You should have seen us in the
control room of the examination.
When the exam was going on, I was
in the war front; I was not able to
leave the control room.

“The invaders were more than 20
well-armed men. The Nigeria Army
had to mobilsie their men to make
it possible for us to conduct
examinations in Auchi, because the
mercenaries in Uromi were
determined to frustrate us, but of
cause they frustrated them in
return.

“The organisers of the protest did
not do it in the interest of the
candidates but done as a result of
their frustration due to their
inability to perpetuate their
planned acts of irregularities.

Majority of these people who are
frustrated collected huge sums of
monies from the candidates, they
were the organisers of the protest,
we have adequate information to
prove it.

“There was an episode in Kaduna
where an owner of a centre
decided to perpetuate malpractice,
as a result he was arrested and
quickly handed over to the police.

“Overall, there were about 145,000
of them. Immediately we noted this
we refused to continue to release
the results until the system error
was corrected. When it was
corrected all other people who sat
for the examination from that time
up till yesterday had no problem
and now even some of them that
were affected are asking for extra
marks.

“In our quest to have adequate and
effective centres for the 2016
exercise we approved over 500
centres. Unfortunately some of the
centre operators were not sincere
in providing us with the true
position of their facility.

“They hired equipment and other
necessary apparatus and on the
examination day they were found
wanting. This lead to relocation or
rescheduling of candidates from
some of them to more suitable
centres.

Ojerinde, explained that the
movement of candidates from
Lagos to Moro in Osun State, by the
Board was done promptly to avert
attacks by hoodlums based on a
security report.

The JAMB boss noted that similar
incident played at Uromi Centre in
Edo State, where mercenaries hired
to perpetrate massive examination
malpractices were exposed by the
JAMB official on ground.

“This led to relocation or
rescheduling of candidates from
some of them to more suitable
centres. I want to apologies to these
two categories of people, but we are
going put on a redress for those
whose relocation affected them in
missing their examination.