JAMB withholds 80,419 results, cancels 40,692

Nigerian students   .......... waiting for JAMB

by Kamarudeen Ogundele

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has withheld the results of 80,419 candidates among those that sat for the last Saturday’s 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

Of this figure, 12,110 candidates’ results “are withheld for a possible disciplinary action” while 68,309 results “from various centres are still undergoing further screening,” JAMB Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, said on Friday during the official release of the results.
“About 40,692 results were invalid due to multiple shading or no shading at all,” he stated.

Ojerinde, who addressed journalists at the examination body’s National Headquarters, Bwari, Abuja, said the irregularities were discovered after processing the answer scripts.

He lamented that candidates had changed their style of perpetrating examination malpractices from wearing ‘magic slippers,’ to wearing “long sleeve shirts that bore imprint of prepared answers.”

He exhibited three shirts seized from candidates as evidence.

Reading a text message received from an unnamed parent, Ojerinde warned the public against patronising Internet fraudsters, who “are already telling candidates that their results could be upgraded.”

“They do not have access to our data,” he stressed.

The JAMB boss said, “40 examination centres were found wanting and their results are under screening. We have ample evidence against them.”

On one Isaac Okeke arrested in Abuja for alleged impersonation, Ojerinde said, “It is true that he was duly registered for the examination but the cyber cafe man gave him a fake e-slip. We thank God the production of fake e-registration slips has reduced.”

Responding to a question, Ojerinde said the board had no record of conviction secured for examination malpractices as “it is a case between the state and those caught. We can only serve as witnesses.”

To buttress the desperation of candidates at the centres, he stated that a Catholic School was involved in examination malpractice without the knowledge of the Reverend Father.

Giving an assurance that a computer based test will still hold on June 1 as scheduled, Ojerinde appealed to candidates to print fresh e-registration slips to further ascertain their centres.

Analysing the results, he said 10 candidates scored 300 and above, 628 scored between 270 and 299, 33,115 scored between 250 and 269, while 704,622 scored between 200 and 249.

About 571,298 scored between 170 and 199; 103,489 scored between 160 and169 while 127,017 scored less than 159.