JAMB Suspends UTME Registration Agents for Alleged Extortion

Uchechukwu Nnaike

The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has ordered the immediate suspension of three of its agents for allegedly charging more than the stipulated amount for Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) registration.

The registrar, during an inspection of some UTME registration centres in Lagos yesterday, discovered that the affected agents, Parkway Project, Digital Partners and SystemSpecs, charged candidates N5, 800 and N6,500 instead of N5,700.

It was also discovered that a bank, in connivance with Remita, charged N8,700 for registration, but the candidate was issued a receipt of N5,700.

Oloyede said the agents would be given an opportunity to defend their actions, and if their excuses are not justified, they will be banned from further transaction with the Board.

While condemning the act, he stated that JAMB pays the agents weekly commission of 5 per cent of the money they realised, so there was no excuse for over-charging the candidates for registration, disclosing that the board has paid more than N300 million as commission to agents and CBT centres.

He added that the action showed that they are not decent enough to participate in the registration exercise, calling for the collaboration of all stakeholders to make things right in the country.

Asked why JAMB insisted on personal email addresses for all candidates, Oloyede said no important form can be completed without an email address, adding that it costs the board a lot of money to communicate with candidates via text messages, while email costs less.

Oloyede insisted that the board would not extend the registration exercise beyond February 14, 2023, and more than 500,000 candidates have already registered.