JAMB seeks waiver for UTME applicants without SIM cards

By FRANK IKPEFAN, Abuja

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Friday said it has applied for a waiver from the Federal Government to allow applicants for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and Direct Entry examination to obtain new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card for registration.

The board noted that candidates must make use of accessible SIM cards which has never been used for UTME/DE registration.

Registrar of JAMB, Prof Is-haq Oloyede said this in Abuja on Friday during a virtual meeting with owners of Computer Based Test Centres, service providers and other stakeholders to kickstart the 2021 UTME/DE registration.

Registration for the examinations will commence next month.

The registrar said talks are ongoing with the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami to grant a conditioned waiver to an estimated 20 percent of candidates without a sim card.

Pantami, last year directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to embark on an audit of the Subscriber Registration Database.

The NCC, through the minister, directed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to suspend the sale, registration and activation of new SIM Cards until the audit exercise was concluded.

Prof Oloyede 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 percent 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 conditionalities 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.”

The registrar said the board introduced the use of National Identity Number (NIN) for UTME registration this year to checkmate examination malpractices. (The Nation)