JAMB releases results of 1.7m candidates, withholds 34, 120

•15-year-old is overall best candidate

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board yesterday released the results of 1, 792, 719 candidates who wrote the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Similarly, the board has withheld the results of 34, 120 candidates including the results of 15,145 candidates it clarified as “identical twins and siblings.” JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, in a sixteen page address titled: “Doing things right and doing right things,” broke the news to reporters yesterday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

A 15-year-old boy, Ekele Franklin from Imo State, is the overall best candidate in the 2019 UTME. Franklin, who made University of Lagos his first choice, scored 347 and may not be admitted because of his age. Oloyede said Emmanuel Chidebube, a 16-year-old boy from Abia came second with a score of 346, while Isaac Olamide, a 17-year-old from Osun came third with 345. In all 2,906 candidates scored over 300 as against 4,683 in 2018. According to Oloyede, 57,579 candidates scored between 250 and 299 as against 64,120 in the 2018 results.

Prof. Oloyede said 1, 826, 839 candidates sat for the UTME of the 1,886,508 candidates that registered for the examination which was conducted in 698 computer based test (CBT) centres nationwide from April 11 – 18. He said: “Today, we are releasing the results of 1,792,719 candidates. Some 34,120 results are being withheld including the results of 15,145 candidates being further clarified as identical twins and siblings.” He advised candidates to check their results through the phone numbers they used for registration.

“Candidates are advised to use the phone numbers they used to register to text RESULT to 55019. For the first three days or between now and Monday, the only means of checking the results of candidates would be through the Short Code (55019). This is to ensure that fraudsters who would want to exploit candidates by reproducing messages and sending such messages to them are frustrated. There is no need to approach any CBT Centre or cyber café to check results. Those who were ABSENT, got their Registration CANCELLED or have their results WITHHELD will be told.

“The board has decided to send both photo and biometric details of candidates to Institutions. We have also put bar codes on the result slips that candidates will be printing. The essence of this is that once a candidate approaches an institution for Post-UTME screening, the institution will use the bar code scanner to authenticate the candidate. However, if a candidate brings a manipulated slip as the case may be at times, the Institution can type in the registration number to ensure that it is not a fake slip that is presented.

“Candidates who presently enjoy undue favour of benefit of the doubt will then be exposed and more results can then be cancelled for post examination fraud– attempt. A total of 116 Centres have been delisted or suspended. Out of this number, 18 have been sanctioned by the Governing Board of JAMB with suspension for between one and three year for registration related misconduct,” he said. The registrar said this year’s examination was infiltrated by overzealous parents and professional examination fraudsters who engaged in impersonation in connivance with operators of CBT centres.