2021 UTME: Why we made NIN compulsory – JAMB clarifies

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has clarified that it introduced the use of National Identity Number (NIN) to register for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to defeat examination malpractices.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who stated this, revealed that the use of NIN as a requirement for registration was from the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu.

JAMB registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede

As indicated by him, the idea was also for security reasons.

Oloyede said, “We don’t even require the name of the candidate, we just want the NIN we will then do the needful to pull the data of the candidate and the process will go on from there.

“It’s for security reasons; for us, at our small level, it helps us to avoid impersonation, but there is a bigger picture of insecurity in the country and we know that many of these problems we have are caused by identification problem, we cannot identify every citizen, where he is and what he is doing.

Government is trying to ensure that we have some strategy for improving the security system and of course if those who are coming into the tertiary institution are exposed to this basic civil responsibility, it will be good to develop a culture of accountability because accountability starts from being identified.”

Oloyede, on Friday, talked in Abuja during a virtual conference with owners of Computer Based Test Centres, service providers and other shareholders to begin the 2021 UTME registration.

The JAMB Registrar further said that candidates must utilise reachable SIM cards which has never been used for UTME registration, stated that talks were progressing with the minister of Communication and Digital Economy to give a conditioned waiver to a projected 20 per cent of candidates without a SIM card.

He said, “We have told the National Communication Commission (NCC), approached the minister of Communication and Digital Economy and we are hopeful that we will be granted waiver with of course, conditionalities which we must ensure the candidates meet.

“Not all the candidates are without SIM, 80 percent of the candidates already have their number, we are talking of the 20 per cent and if we are fortunate enough to secure the waiver of the minister through the NCC, we will go ahead to make sure there is full compliance to the conditionality because it is in our interest as a nation that those things that are put in place should be allowed to protect all of us.”

Oloyede also cautioned that no CBT is permitted to register candidates for NIN, stating that any centre found to involve in such act would be sanctioned.

He said, “No JAMB accredited CBT centre is allowed as agent of NIMC in the enrollment of NIN.”

While warning owners of CBT centres against examination malpractice, Oloyede disclosed that all centres owned by the same owners of a centre caught in the dishonest act would be suspended.

The JAMB Registrar declared that more than 100 centres were delisted between 2020 and 2021 for several violations which include registration and examination malpractice.