The statement which was signed by the Board’s Head of Public Affairs, Fabian Benjamin, urged all candidates who have registered for the 2024 UTME scheduled to commence on Friday, April 19, 2024 to print their notification slips.

They were to print before Friday, April 19, 2024, so as to know the date, venue, and time of their respective examinations as well as some other vital information regarding the examination.

To print the slip, candidates are to visit the JAMB website: www.jamb.gov.ng; click on “2024 UTME Slip Printing,”
input their registration number, then click on print.

“To successfully sit the examination, candidates are advised to print on or before Friday, April 19, 2024, so as to locate the venue of their centre to prevent lateness on their scheduled examination date,” the Board advised.

The 2024 UTME is scheduled to commence on Friday, April 19, and end on Monday, April 29, 2024.

The 16-year-old student of Deeper Life High School, Mowe, Ogun State, scored A1 in English Language, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Further Mathematics, Economics, Civic Education, Computer Studies and Dyeing and Bleaching, and a B2 in Physics.

Umeh was earlier celebrated for being the top scorer in the just 2023 UTME with a cumulative mark of 360.

She scored 99 in Chemistry, 98 in Mathematics, 97 in Physics, and 66 in English.

The Anambra State indigene received several awards including a scholarship from the state government.

Umeh also received a cash prize of N2.5m from the Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods Limited, Chief Eric Umeofia, among others.

She was presented with a cheque on the company’s premises at Ikeja, Lagos, on July 28, 2023.

Oloyede made this disclosure in a transcript sent to our correspondent from Windhoek, Namibia.

He said, “The truth is that JAMB has concluded the investigation on Nmesoma’s score falsification matter. She was not the only one caught, just that others have chosen not to go out”, Oloyede said.

Presently, there is an industry faking results and unfortunately they cannot penetrate JAMB system, reasons being that (our) system is foolproofed and we will prove it any time. It is unfortunate that parents and some of the candidates that are being fooled are not aware that they are only being fooled.

There is internal evidence to show that the change in Ejikeme’s scores was done with her collaboration. There are certain features pertaining to her that only her knows unless she makes it available to somebody else. They couldn’t have increased her scores on her behalf.”

The Registrar said he had earlier spoken with a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, on Nmesoma’s matter, and told her that it was a high-level scam.

We improved on our facilities this year, so Ejikeme and her collaborators are still living in the past. I spoke with Mrs Ezekwesili on the matter and I told her that it is a high-level scam and I told her that it was a careless forgery.

“This is because we are no longer using some of the things they used in changing those results since 2021. We used that pattern in 2021 and you saw what happened and many of such individuals were caught as well and they were treated accordingly,” he stated.

The special examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for visually-impaired candidates will hold between  April 27 and 29, 2023 under the supervision of the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group.

The chairman, JAMB Equal Opportunity Group, Prof Peter Okebukola, who made this known while providing the highlight of 2023 examination on Thursday in Abuja, commended the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, for the special arrangement for this category of Nigerians, saying the goal of the Oloyede-led JAMB was to ensure that no eligible Nigerian is prevented from taking the UTME, regardless of disability.

He disclosed that from 2017, JEOG had processed about 2,600  visually-impaired candidates for the UTME with over a third admitted to courses of their choice in higher education institutions in Nigeria, mainly universities, adding that the initiative had been cited in the last four years in several countries, as a good model for Africa.

The former Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission explained that the mode of examination administration was blended use of Personal Computers and  the traditional Braille slate and stylus/typewriters in writing answers to questions that are read out by a subject expert, stressing that the blind candidates take the same test items as those who are not blind.

The PUNCH reports that the special examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for the visually impaired candidates will hold between  27 and 29 April 2023 under the supervision of the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group.

The chairman, JAMB Equal Opportunity Group, Professor Peter Okebukola, who made this known while providing the highlight of the 2023 examination on Thursday in Abuja, commended the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, for the special arrangement for this category of Nigerians, saying the goal of the Oloyede-led JAMB is to ensure that no Nigerian who is eligible, is prevented from taking the UTME regardless of disability.

He disclosed that from 2017, JEOG has processed about 2,600 candidates for the UTME with over a third admitted to courses of their choice in higher education institutions in Nigeria, mainly universities, adding that this JAMB initiative has been cited in the last four years in several countries, as a good model for Africa.

The former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission explained that the mode of examination administration is a blended-use of Personal Computers and use of the traditional Braille slate and stylus/typewriters in writing answers to questions that are read out by a subject expert, stressing that the blind candidates take the same test items as those who are not blind.

Okebukola who is also the Chairman Governing Board of the National Open University of Nigeria revealed that JAMB has approved that from 2024, there would be a gradual migration to the full CBT mode customised for blind candidates.

He noted that a pilot run is to be conducted later in the year to test this mode and also give options to candidates who elect for fully Braille, fully CBT and full read-aloud modes.

According to him, “There are exciting times ahead for blind candidates and others with disabilities in the realisation of the dream of Professor Is-had Oloyede for equal opportunity.”

While giving further insight, Okebukola said: “So far, a good number of blind candidates processed through JEOG have secured admission to federal, state and private universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

“In 2019, of the 390 candidates, a total of 175 (44.8%) were given admission. This was unprecedented in the history of admission of such a category of students into the Nigerian higher education system, another of Professor Oloyede’s golden legacies.

“In 2020, 89 of the 351 blind candidates (25%) that sat for the UTME. In 2021, a total of 110 blind candidates were given admission, out of the 332 that sat for the UTME. This 33% admission of blind candidates to higher education in an annual cohort is unprecedented in the African higher education system.

“In 2022, 139 candidates out of the 364 candidates that took the UTME (38%) were admitted to the higher education institution of their choice.

“Five of the blind candidates scored above 270 in the 2022 UTME. Ninety-two scored above 200. When compared proportionally with the non-blind candidates, the blind candidates are doing as well, if not better than the visually unimpaired candidates.

“The 2023 exercise is taking place in 11 centres nationwide. This is in the interest of bringing the venue of the examination closer to the candidates, especially with the security situation in the country.

“The centres are coordinated by seasoned academics and university administrators. The total number of candidates is 364,” he stated.

He added that JEOG is already implementing a strategic plan of gradually increasing the ICT component of the administration of the UTME to match the improvement in ICT usage for the education of the blind in the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

He said, “The Group is excited about candidates, though few, who offer science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects since this is an important slant to equal opportunity.

“A study has been underway since 2018 to explore ways of encouraging many blind candidates to study STEM subjects recognising the inclement conditions for the study of science by blind candidates at the secondary and post-secondary levels.

“Through the kindness of Professor Is-haq Oloyede, JAMB takes full responsibility for hotel accommodation and feeding of the candidates in the 11 centres and pays generous transport supplementation while providing them with a conducive environment to write the examination.

“Additionally, each blind candidate receives the very precious tools of slate and stylus from JAMB that will be used during the course of study, when admitted to a tertiary institution.

“JEOG is hoping to propose to JAMB, the institution of awards for the top three tertiary institutions with the highest number of candidates with disabilities that are admitted in a given year.

“We are happy to report that JAMB has approved, within the framework of Agenda 2063 and SDG 4, to host biennial (every two years) Africa Regional Conference on Equal Opportunities in Higher Education starting from 2024 to be chaired by Professor Is-haq Oloyede and with all 55 African countries participating.

“A national conference on the same theme has also been approved by Professor Oloyede and the JAMB Management to hold in September 2023”.

She was arrested at JAMB headquarters in Bwari area of Abuja, where she turned up in company of her father to lodge a complaint of getting two result slips from JAMB after increasing her score from 164 to 264.

Mordi confessed to getting the fake result from one Iyanuoluwa via Whatsapp. She further revealed that the fake JAMB agent sent her result to her phone after collecting her registration number and that of three other candidates.

JAMB’s bulletin released on Sunday September 9, read; “The 19-year-old who falsified her 2019 UTME result from 164 to 264 had petitioned us for (allegedly) giving her two results in the 2019 UTME. The board, upon receipt of the complaint, invited the candidate who appeared before the board in company of her father, Frank Emordi. The Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, read the riot act to the petitioner and her father and gave them a grace period to retrace their steps, knowing that there is forensic analysis that she falsified the score. Upon the expiration of the opportunity, after thorough examination of the evidence, the candidate owned up to her misdeeds. She said the agent sent the inflated result to her through a Whatsapp group which she had deleted. Checks by the board revealed that the candidate had made three successful attempts at checking her result. However, on the candidate’s dashboard, 164 score still remained. She had since been handed over to security agents for further interrogation.”

JAMB revealed in its weekly bulletin that some banks will be offering the top 100 UTME candidates scholarships to study in universities across the country.

JAMB said, “The conduct of the 2019 UTME has witnessed a dramatic turn of events with many startling discoveries and the capacity of the board to navigate the emerging threats. As a result of the handling of the crises and performances, many corporate organisations have called on the board to furnish them with top scoring candidates to offer scholarships to study in tertiary institutions of their choice or even to perform holy pilgrimage. This pilgrimage was offered by the National Hajj Commission. There are banks which are also demanding the top 100 UTME candidates for scholarships. This is a stamp on the approval of the board’s products and efforts at repositioning the conduct of public examinations in Nigeria. The fight against examination corruption should therefore be fought on all fronts. This is because of the board’s belief that the first manifestation of corruption is cheating in an examination.”

The candidate from Bayelsa State with Registration Number 95329290ED, was arrested at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, after he paid N10,000 to the syndicate group he contacted via WhatsApp.

Speaking on the arrest, JAMB Registrar, Oloyede said “One of the popular claims candidates usually make is that JAMB issued two different UTME results to them. But I said it was a lie because this result was processed via information and communication technology. When this boy came with his complaint, I asked for his records to be brought and we discovered that he had contacted fraudsters who gave him a fake result. We discovered that the result given to him was an imposition of another candidate’s result on his own. He is with the NSCDC and he will be handed over to the police for prosecution.”