The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has urged the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to urgently address challenges confronting candidates registering for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.
Obi made the call after observing large crowds and confusion at JAMB’s office in Amawbia, Anambra State, noting that similar complaints had emerged from other parts of the country.
According to him, the situation appears to be connected to the proscription of several Computer-Based Test, CBT, centres over alleged infractions.
While acknowledging that the authorities may have genuine reasons to sanction erring centres, Obi advised the examination body to adopt what he described as a more balanced and humane approach.
He suggested that centres currently under investigation could be allowed to provide limited services under strict supervision to prevent further violations.
Obi also recommended that where the approval of new centres may take time, JAMB could temporarily utilise previously accredited centres under close monitoring to ease the pressure on its state offices.
“With the registration deadline approaching, many candidates – some travelling long distances and even spending nights away from home – risk missing the examination through no fault of their own,” he said.
“Students cannot be made to suffer the failings of a system to which we have all, in one way or another, contributed. Swift and compassionate intervention should be made to ensure that no young person’s academic future is jeopardised by avoidable administrative bottlenecks,” Obi added.
