The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has withdrawn the
licences of 11 centres selling the e-PIN for registration for the 2020 unified tertiary matriculation examination UTME.
The centres were found to be charging candidates above the amount pegged by the board for the sales of examination instruments.
JAMB had fixed the cost of e-PIN for registration for N3,500 and the cost of materials for N500 while N700 for the computer-based test (CBT) centres – totalling N4,700.
JAMB Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, who disclosed this during an interactive session with stakeholders at the headquarters of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC in Abuja on Tuesday, said the board discovered that some of the centres were selling the e-PIN for as high as N8, 000.
Oloyede said charging above the stipulated N4,700 for the 2020 UTME registration was illegitimate and would only destroy the nation; as it was an act of fraud and corruption.
Some of the centres whose licences were withdrawn for selling forms at N5,000 are; Federal Polytechnics, Mubi; Adamawa; and Adazi-Nnukwu ICT/CBT.
Others are New Kings and Queens Bayelsa, for selling at N5,500; Brightfield Secondary School Delta, for selling between N6,000 and N8,000; A-Pagen Consolidated Port Harcourt, for selling at N5,000 and Influencial School Port Harcourt, for selling at N6,000.
Also included are Emkenlyn Computers, and Nneameka Secondary School Anambra.
He said: “Many people make illegitimate money from the examination and we will be destroying the nation, if we don’t get things right.
“Prior to 2018, we sell form for N5,000; but the Federal Government considers so many things and felt the money was much and in 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari decided that the cost should be slashed; which brought the cost to N3,500.
“Also, prior to this time, there were unscrupulous people selling as high as N10,000. We now democratised the sale of the forms, to make it available so that it will not be possible for those selling to hoard the forms.
“We felt the banks are overcrowded so we decided to expand the sale outlet, to bring in mobile money operators to cover all the registered banks.
“The effects of the expansion is that some people are still penetrating the banks, thereby increasing the cost of the sale of form."
The registrar said the proliferation of tutorial centres was a major concern as most of the centres engaged in fraud and corruption during registrations and examinations.
In his remarks, the Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Muhammadu, urged the board to limit the tutorial centres in the country.
Muhammadu urged the board to make sure that lists of certified tutorial centres were revealed to reduce infractions as it relates to examinations.
He called on commandants in the various states to make integrity their watchword in order not to betray the confidence the board has in them as well as Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the NSCDC on Tuesday paraded two suspects arrested by the agency in Agbor, Delta State, for extorting candidates.
The principal suspect, Ambrose, 65, with his accomplice, were charged for selling the JAMB document at N5,500 at a business Centre owned by Ambrose.
Commandant of NSCDC, Delta State, Dr Benito Eze, said the suspects were arrested when on a tip off, the Corps' undercover operatives were sent to buy the forms in company of JAMB officials.
Ambrose, when interrogated said he was acting as an agent to a CBT centre, explaining that out of the N5,500 collected from candidates, N4,000 is paid to JAMB while N700 is remitted to the CBT centre and N500 for transportation.
The NSCDC CG vowed to prosecute the culprit to serve as deterrent to others.
He said the suspects would be arraigned in court to face charges of criminal conspiracy and extortion of money from candidates.
