The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has suspended the use of the National Identity Number (NIN) for the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) examination.
Professor Ishak Oloyede, JAMB Registrar, disclosed this at a joint press conference with Aliyu Azeez, Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), at the board’s headquarters in Abuja on Saturday.
JAMB had earlier stated that all candidates for the 2020/ 21 UTME and DE must have NIN before registering for admission slots into the nation’s tertiary institutions.
But according to Oloyede, the suspension of the NIN requirement for the 2020 UTME and DE was necessary due to the technical issues on the ground with regards to the system of registration as conducted by the NIMC.
He added that the decision to suspend was made after several calls from stakeholders.
Oloyede said: “We also decided to suspend that prerequisite based on some technical issues on ground.
“We came to a decision yesterday and decided that we will suspend the use of NIN as a prerequisite for the 2020 UTME and Direct Entry (DE) registration until 2021.
“By then, all candidates would have been given one year notice to register.
“This does not affect our permanent and adhoc staff who will participate in the exercise as they will require the NIN for verification.
“We have gone round and seen the passion and commitment of the candidates; the reality on ground is that what we expect is not attainable at the moment, so we shall not inflict more pain on candidates.”
The JAMB Registrar said plans are underway for the provision of a more advanced system that will be more efficient for the exercise.
In his remarks, Azeez, NIMC’s Director-General, said the suspension of the NIN requirement was pertinent as the commission was overwhelmed with the exercise within the short time given.
He said that NIMC had only 1,000 centres around the country for the exercise, noting that the commission would need up to 4,000 to conduct such exercise.
He, however, stated that the partnership with JAMB would continue while advising parents and candidates for the 2021 exercise to use the opportunity to acquire the number within the stipulated time to avoid last minute rushes.
Azeez also said that by 2021, NIMC registration would be made available at JAMB Computer-Based Tests (CBT) centres nationwide, with operators on ground to capture candidates.
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