Registration for 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (UTME) begins on January 13 and ends February 17, the Registrar of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has said.
The JAMB registrar said the examination would hold between March 14 and April 4, 2020 while an optional mock examination for candidates would take place on February 18, 2020.
Oloyede spoke yesterday in Abuja at a meeting with education commissioners from the 36 states and other stakeholders.
The JAMB registrar noted that registration for the 2020 UTME and Direct Entry (DE) would be done simultaneously between January 13 and February 17, 2020.
He said the board had collaborated with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for the smooth conduct of the examination, as directed by the Federal Government.
Candidates are expected to obtain their National Identity Number (NIN) from NIMC registration centres nationwide before they can sit for the examination, the board said.
Oloyede said over 40,000 candidates for the examination had obtained their NIN.
The registrar insisted that the NIN was compulsory for the conduct of 2020 UTME.
He said: “The board is bringing in the NIMC, as directed by the National Assembly and Federal Executive Council (FEC), to conduct the 2020 UTME.
“This will ease our job because those who have not been able to register can now be transported to NIMC centres at the point of registration. I believe that over 40,0000 candidates have already got their NIN.
“Everybody must rise up and support NIMC. We are also bringing in Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) to help in monitoring the Computer-Based Centres (CBTs).
“We also have the advantage of the Galaxy Backbone. Each of the CBT centres has been mapped with NIMC enrolment centres.”
The registrar stressed that it was important for candidates to register with NIN as this would help to eliminate multiple registration discovered during the 2019 registration.
“Our experience, last year, showed that some candidates registered multiple times to perpetrate impersonation. This is because exam malpractices start at the point of registration.
“JAMB needs full collaboration of states’ education commissioners to help sensitise candidates in their various states on the need and importance of the NIN for 2020 registration.
“We have called you to inform you about our preparedness towards the conduct of the 2020 UTME and to pay attention to public examinations in your states and be conscious of proliferation of exam centres to perpetrate exam malpractices,” he said.
Oloyede added that the board had put in place a Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) designed to prevent institutions from unilaterally changing or proposing a candidate for admission into programmes or courses other than his/her chosen course.
The registrar said some institutions had devised a method of offering admission to candidates outside CAPS on their designated portals.
He warned that any institution doing so was putting the future of such candidate in jeopardy.
Oloyede explained that JAMB’s mandate required that in placing candidates, preference should be given to them to choose their courses of study.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
