By Oyinkansayo Wole-Bodunde
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has issued a warning to the public about spreading false information regarding the assignment of examination centers to candidates.
According to JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the board ensures that candidates are allocated to examination centers within their chosen towns. “It is our firm belief that some parents are continually being deceived, misled, and defrauded by their wards and some secondary school proprietors who perpetuate this falsehood. Let it be unequivocally clear: at the time of registration, candidates have the right to select their preferred examination town. JAMB subsequently assigns them to a centre within the selected town. The baseless claim that candidates are posted to towns different from their choices is erroneous, malicious, and aimed solely at tarnishing the Board’s reputation. It does not happen. The Board therefore challenges this false yet popular narrative by offering a handsome financial reward to anyone who can provide authentic proof of even one candidate who has been posted outside their chosen town,” he said.
To verify these claims, JAMB has partnered with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to receive evidence within the next 96 hours via the FCCPC WhatsApp number: 08056003030.
Dr. Benjamin also addressed concerns about examination timing, stating, “Anyone who finds no fault in airlines requesting air travellers to arrive at the airport two hours before departure should equally find no fault in encouraging candidates to arrive at CBT centres 90 minutes before the commencement of examinations for preliminary verification. Many parents who expect candidates to spend no more than two hours for a two-hour examination are evidently unaware of the necessary preliminary processes.”
The JAMB spokesperson urged the public to trust the board’s commitment to serving the public interest and advised candidates against relying on superstitious beliefs, citing an example of a candidate who refused to attempt questions due to her grandfather’s instructions to wait for miraculous intervention. He said, “another example of gullibility was demonstrated by a female UTME candidate who refused to attempt any questions during her examination this morning. This was because she was complying with her grandfather’s instruction to do nothing and wait for miraculous intervention.”
