The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it remitted N5 billion to the Federal Government purse, after the conduct of its 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
This was contained in the board’s weekly bulletin, signed and released by JAMB’s Head of Media and Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in Lagos, yesterday.
Benjamin explained in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the agency got N2 billion, out of the N5 billion.
“The board returned N5 billion to the federal government, but, out of that amount, the board was given N2 billion to further enhance its operations,” he explained.
Meanwhile, UTME candidates have decried technical challenges faced in accessing, by telephone, JAMB’s just-released results, to which the board, which conducted the examination, admitted the problem, but said it is working in collaboration with telephone service providers to resolve the glitches. Last Saturday, JAMB directed candidates to use the same telephone numbers used in registering for the examination to access their results by sending ‘RESULT’ to the code, ‘55019.’
A parent, Mrs. Bridget Otuagha, expressed worry at the challenge her son was facing to get his result. According to her, ever since the result was announced, her son had tried without success to check his result as directed by the board.
“I am sick with worry about this whole thing. My son has been trying to get his result, since Saturday, to no avail.
“He has been sending this ‘RESULT’ to the said code up until this morning (yesterday), and there has been no response to that effect. This is getting not just him, but the entire family worried. JAMB should please see if there is another way to this situation,’’ Otuagha said.
Another concerned parent, Mrs Florence Ibem, also told NAN that her son was equally having the same issue, checking his score for the same examination.
“Since they released the result, we have not been able to access his score through the telephone number we used in acquiring the registration pin. After sending RESULT to the said code severally, we only waited to see that no response whatsoever will follow. This is disturbing and frustrating. Something should be done and urgently too. Even if it is withheld or cancelled, I think we deserve to know,’’ Ibem said.
When contacted, Dr. Benjamin apologised to the affected persons; on behalf of the board.