The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said that thousands of candidates would have their 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results withheld because of examination malpractices.
JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede said this in Lagos on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, during the arrest of two children of the owner of a computer-based test (CBT) who allegedly confessed to selling fake UTME questions and answers to unsuspecting candidates.
According to Premium Times, the suspects, Godswill Ukpai and David Ukpai confessed to taking pictures of UTME questions on the screens during examinations at their father’s center and sold the questions to an operator of a private tutorial centre in Lagos.
Their father, Emeka Ukpai, who was said to be a former banker said he regretted the action of his sons saying he could not explain how they got themselves in selling fake exam questions.
He said; “They are old enough to face the music for their actions. They are only allowed into the hall in the morning to help power the computer systems before examination starts. How they got themselves involved in this mess I cannot explain and I feel that they should be tried appropriately. It is very unfortunate and regrettable.”
Explaining how the suspects were caught and arrested, Oloyede said the CCTV installed at the centre and connected to JAMB headquarters gave them out.
Oloyede said the suspects were not authorized to enter the hall during the examination but they used the opportunity of their father’s ownership of the hall to gain access into the exam centre.
The JAMB Registrar, however, maintained that what the suspects were selling to their “customers” is not authentic. He said each question set for a candidate cannot be repeated until after five years.
In March 2019, JAMB announced that 1.8 million candidates registered for the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
