*Withholds 39,834 Results Over Malpractices
THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), on Friday, May 9, announced that the results of 39,834 candidates out of the over 1.9 million applicants who sat the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) were being withheld due to suspected examination malpractices.
The Board said it uncovered widespread examination malpractices in the examination, including identity fraud, biometric manipulation, and 244 cases of candidates subscribing to so-called ‘WhatsApp runs’ for leaked questions.
Consequently, the Board withheld the results of the “244 candidates caught engaging in ‘WhatsApp runs,’ subscribing to rogue groups promising leaked questions,” vowing to apply severe sanctions.
he said.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who disclosed this during a press conference on Friday, May 9, at the Board’s headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, where he formally announced the release of the UTME results, said the Board also discovered new trends of examination malpractices that suggest “systemic vulnerabilities or gaps in registration and examination administration or/and monitoring.”
He added: “The new trends observed were in the registration and examination processes and they were mainly in the following categories: Identity fraud and biometric fraud of combined thumbprint of candidate.”
These were in addition to impersonation during registration, double registration and attempted substitution of candidates often carried out in collusion with some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres.
Oloyede confirmed that JAMB withheld 96 results due to confirmed infractions, a reduction from 123 withheld results last year, while 39,834 results were still under investigation and 1,426 candidates facing scrutiny for suspected malpractice.
The Board, he explained, has identified the presence of extraneous fingers in the registration details of some of these candidates, raising concerns regarding potential strategies for impersonation.
A total of 3,656 candidates fall within this category and their results have been withheld, just as 2,157 candidates experienced fingerprint rejections, significantly above normal levels.
JAMB identified several CBT centres implicated in aiding malpractice and multiple registrations, including Tigh Technologies Limited; Sascon International School, Maitama, Abuja; Wudil Computer Information Technology, Kano State and Penta M & Centre 2, Tambuwal LGA, Sokoto State
Oloyede said some CBT centres allegedly aided candidates in bypassing biometric protocols, and in some cases, entire syndicates colluded with CBT centres to register, using multiple fingerprints.
He explained that 80 suspects were being interrogated by the Police over their roles in the examination fraud and many would be prosecuted if found culpable.
Concerning underage candidates, the JAMB boss said of the 41,027 candidates below the age of 16 who registered for the UTME, only 467 met the high-performance exemption criteria, with one disqualified for examination malpractice.
On JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), designed to provide fair testing conditions for candidates with disabilities, Oloyede revealled that 501 of them were successfully examined across 11 centres nationwide, with one found to have engaged in impersonation.
JAMB delisted four CBT centres for technical deficiencies and substandard services during the UTME, including Adventure Associate, Behind Sheshe Supermarket, Kano; Saadatu Rimi College of Education, Zaria; Soronara Ventures Nigeria Limited, Mbaitoli, Imo State and HSS Amazing, Holy Saviour School, Itele, Ogun State
Oloyede noted that a separate list of CBT centres blacklisted for fraudulent practices would be made public soon.
From the results, one per cent of the candidates scored above 300 across the country, with a final year student of the Federal Government College (FGC), Warri in Delta State, Oritsemeyiwa Precious Ebule, garnering the highest grade of 334 out of 400 point.
The 16-year old scored 98 in Mathematics; 98 in Physics; 85 in Chemistry and 53 in English.
Ebule, a Mathematics Columnist with Fresh Angle International and author of MathsGE With MeyiBule, with UTME gegistration number 202550118536DA, is the son of Ebule Anthony Metsese, Co-Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper.
He scored 326 in the UTME mock held on April 10- 96 in Mathematics, 94 in Physics, 71 in Chemistry and 65 in English Language.
Ebule, whose first choice university is the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun in Uvwie Local Council of Delta State, intends to study Mechanical Engineering.
JAMB had reported that 75 per cent of candidates that sat for the examination scored below 200, with less than one per cent recording over 300 marks across the country.
