Why We Made NIN Compulsory For UTME Registration ― JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it introduced the use of National Identity Number (NIN) for the registration of the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to checkmate examination malpractices.
Oloyede disclosed that the use of NIN as a prerequisite for registration was from the Minister of Education, adding that the idea was for security reasons.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it introduced the use of National Identity Number (NIN) for the registration of the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to checkmate examination malpractices.

The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made this known while speaking at a virtual meeting with owners of Computer Based Test Centres, service providers and other stakeholders to kickstart the 2021 UTME registration in Abuja on Friday.

Oloyede disclosed that the use of NIN as a prerequisite for registration was from the Minister of Education, adding that the idea was for security reasons.

“We don’t even require the name of the candidate, we just want the NIN we will then do the needful to pull the data of the candidate and the process will go on from there.

“It’s for security reasons; for us at our small level it helps us to avoid impersonation but there is a bigger picture of insecurity in the country and we know that many of the problems we have is because we have identification problem, we cannot identify every citizen, where he is and what he is doing.

“Government is trying to ensure that we have some strategy for improving the security system and of course if those who are coming into the tertiary institution are exposed to this basic civil responsibility, it will be good to develop a culture of accountability because accountability starts from being identified,” the JAMB Registrar said.

Oloyede, who noted that candidates must make use of accessible sim cards which has never been used for UTME registration, added that talks were ongoing with the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy to grant a conditioned waiver to an estimated 20 percent of candidates without a sim card.

The JAMB Registrar further warned that no CBT will be allowed to register candidates for NIN, noting that any centre found to engage in such act would be sanctioned.