A total of 1,662,762 candidates are going to sit for the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) being organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB.
Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB Registrar who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at a press conference to announce the preparation of the examination board for the matriculation examination which kicks off in 605 centres nationwide on Friday, March 9, 2018 said the figure was 55,642 low compared to that of 2017.
According to him, the figures shows a decrease of 55,642 applicants compared to that of 2017 which had 1,718,425million candidates, representing a decrease of 3.2percent.
He explained that the drop in the number of candidates for this year was largely due to measures put in place by the Board to forestall multiple registrations and other unwholesome registration practices by candidates.
Oloyede also alleged that some cyber café operators in the country have been mounting pressure on the Board to share proceeds from the candidates’ application fees with them.
He explained that the operators came up with the demand having noted that the Board remitted over N7billion to the federation account in 2017.
But he maintained that the Board under his watch would not fall for such cheap blackmail, adding that the agency would not also be in a haste to make public the examination results so as to forestall instances of withheld results.
He said a total of 367 visually impaired candidates registered for the examination as against 201 in the out-gone year 2017.
For this year examination, Imo topped the list of application by state of origin, with 92,890 candidates while FCT came least with 6418.
A ten year admission statistics released by the Board also revealed that from 2008 to 2017, the admission quota for tertiary institutions has never exceeded 550,357.
“The 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will be conducted in 605 centres across the nation. The examination is scheduled to commence from Friday, 9th March, and end on Friday, 19th March, 2018, every machinery has been put in place to ensure a smooth conduct.
“A total number of 1,662,762 candidates registered for the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination within a period of two months as against a total of 1,718,425 candidates who registered within one month (with an extension of two weeks).
“The figure for the 2018 shows a decrease of 55,642 applicants when compared with last year’s figure of 1,718,425 representing a decrease of 3.2 %.
“Findings also revealed that the drop in the number of candidates for this year’s UTME is largely due to measures put in place by the Board to forestall multiple registrations and other unwholesome registration practices by candidates.
“A total of 367 visually impaired candidates registered for this year’s examination as against the two 201 last year,”Oloyode stated.
