THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)
will not hesitate to postpone examinations in any of the
centres in the northern states, if intelligence reports
suggest any threats to safety of the candidates.
Registrar and Chief Executive of JAMB, Professor ‘Dibu
Ojerinde, made these disclosures in Abuja, on
Wednesday, while briefing newsmen on the preparation
of the board to conduct a hitch-free examinations.
This is just as he disclosed that a total of 1,735,720
candidates are to sit for the 2013 Unified Tertiary
Matriculation Examination (UTME), which commences on
Saturday across the 36 states of the federation, Federal
Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and six foreign countries.
However, the Computer-Based Test (CBT) component of
the UTME, which is a novel introduction, is scheduled to
commence from Saturday, May 18 and end on Saturday,
June 1.
Ojerinde said examination would hold simultaneously in
all the designated 378 examination towns in Nigeria and
six foreign centres.
The foreign centres, according to Ojerinde, are: Accra,
Ghana; Buea in Republic of Cameroun; Cotonu in
Republic of Benin; London in the United Kingdom;
Jeddah in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Johannesburg, in
South Africa.
He said the board, on its part, had engaged the services
of the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps
(NSCDC) and State Security Service (SSS) for security
surveillance and monitoring of the conduct of the
examination nationwide, while he assured candidates of
safety.
According to him, the figure of the 2013 UTME showed
an increase of 231,789 applicants, when compared with
2012 figure of 1,503,931, representing an increase of
13.35 per cent.
A total of 1,629,102 candidates applied for the Paper-
Pencil Test (PPT), 15,008 applied for the Dual-Based
Test (DBT), while 91,610 candidates applied for the
CBT.
The registrar also informed candidates that applied for
the CBT to go online and reprint their e-slip, as
inevitable amendments had been made on the timetable
for the CBT examination.
Remarkably, 196 inmates registered for the 2013 UTME
from both Kaduna and Lagos prisons, while a total of
145 visually impaired candidates registered for the
examination.
Ojerinde, who talked tough on the issue examination
malpractice, noted that all candidates would be
screened through biometric finger-print, as part of the
determination of the board to curb the incidence of
examination malpractices.
He warned candidates against the use of handsets or
any communication gadgets in and around the
examination venues, adding that anyone found with
such would be deemed to have been engaged in
examination malpractices.
The JAMB boss also warned supervisors and invigilators
who indulged in unwholesome activities by encouraging
candidates to cheat in the examination halls, stressing
that any erring official would be prosecuted in
accordance with the law