The Joint Admissions And Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commenced the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (UTME) across the country.
According to JAMB, there will be close to 1.6 million candidates taking the UTME across 700 centers, which will end on May 12, 2023, to allow registration for the Direct Entry exams.
Applicants were being checked into the exam halls by means of Biometric Verification Machines in various centres in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State.
Despite the fact that some candidates mentioned that they ran into problems during the verification procedure, JAMB officials on ground said all the problems will be resolved.
NewsClick Nigeria had earlier reported that the exam was initially slated to start on Saturday, April 29, 2023.
The board said in an earlier statement through its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, that the UTME date adjustment was necessary to make room for some other significant and important national responsibilities.
Meanwhile, one of the High Opinion Leaders for the examination, Mr Abdulrahman Balogun, said there were no technical hitches but the little delay was from JAMB headquarters.
“I have been to some centres this morning from Jikwoyi, Karu to AYA and now at the Global Distance Learning Institute.
“At this centre, they are to have three sessions, the first session is to start at 7:00a.m and students were expected to arrive at 6:30am. The second session is to start at 9:00a.m, while the third session starts at 11:00 a.m.
“We had some little delay at this centre, the examination that ought to have started at 7:00 a.m did not start and when asked I was told it was not due to any technical hitch but they were waiting for signal from JAMB headquarters.
“As you can see, the examination is going on unhindered, 200 candidates are expected to sit for the first session but out of this, 183 were accredited, 16 absent and one unverified,” he said.
Balogun, who said that candidates in the second batch had been screened to ascertain their centre, commended the process saying that close to 99 per cent success in terms of orderliness, smoothness and arrangement was recorded.
Speaking on the high turnout of parents loitering the examination centre, he advised parents to avoid obstructing the process of the examinations.
“Parents will continue to be parents, some will say they will come along with their children because of security reasons.
“Some say they are still children and the truth is these are children. You cannot blame them but they should not interfere with the process or conduct of JAMB examination.
“It is their fundamental right to stay outside the gate but they should not come in and obstruct the exams,” he said.
