The source said the extension would be by one week, but if the crisis persists, the examination body may consider a further extension to accommodate every legitimate willing applicant.
Beginning from Monday, 15 May, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) may have concluded plans to extend the registration for candidates seeking direct entry admission to universities nationwide.
The deadline for registration had earlier been fixed for Saturday, 13 May. Still, the rowdiness consistently experienced within the past week at the Lagos office of the examination body informed the latest decision.
The new development was confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday evening by a highly placed JAMB official who does not want to be named for lacking the authority to give the information.
But the source confirmed that the management of the examination body had at the weekend deliberated on the challenges being faced at its offices, especially in Lagos, and decided to extend the deadline to “ensure that every qualified and willing applicant is duly registered.”
However, the Head of Public Affairs and Protocol for the examination agency, Fabian Benjamin, neither confirmed nor denied the information.
But Mr Benjamin said he was sure that every candidate willing to register for the direct entry application would be allowed to do so.
Registration challenges
JAMB recently barred privately-owned computer-based test centres from participating in the registration for direct entry applicants and instructed applicants to approach any of its offices nationwide for registration.
The centralisation of the process, according to the examination body, was aimed at curbing the use of fake A-level documents for registration.
JAMB said it had been inundated with complaints of fraud allegedly by applicants, citing the case of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), which it noted expelled about 140 students for presenting fake A-level results.
JAMB said the centralisation of the application process is, therefore, to guide against such fraudulent practices and to set a template for private CBT centres’ participation in subsequent years.
But this decision has left many applicants stranded with the examination body’s office in Lagos recording rowdiness, especially within the last one week.
Disturbing images of applicants sleeping on floors at the Ikoyi office of JAMB in Lagos had consistently surfaced on the internet, forcing the leadership of NANS to visit the scene and demand immediate resolution.
But JAMB has blamed the applicants for adopting a last-minute rush, saying for the first few weeks of the registration period, it recorded low patronage.
Speaking earlier on the development, JAMB’s spokesperson, Mr Benjamin, told PREMIUM TIMES: “When we started the registration, the offices were nearly empty, and candidates were not coming. Don’t forget; the DE registration is not a high-tech registration; we usually have just about 100,000 and sometimes 200,000 candidates registering for the whole year.
So, you can imagine where these people are coming from at this particular point in time. But as a responsible organisation, we will do everything possible, especially for candidates who have purchased the PIN to register.”
-Premiumtimes
