JAMB registered 782,027 candidates across 856 accredited CBT centres

… rules out registration date extension

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that as of Friday, February 14, 782,027 candidates had successfully registered across 856 accredited computer-based test (CBT) centres nationwide.

Ishaq Oloyede, the registrar and chief executive officer at JAMB expressed satisfaction with the registration progress so far, describing it as the most seamless, fast, and efficient in the board’s history.

“Previously, we experienced network failures, power outages, and other technical issues. But this year, everything has been smooth, and we expect it to continue this way until the end.

“As of this afternoon, we have already registered 782,027 candidates within just 10 days, less than two weeks out of the five weeks. We are on track to complete the process long before the deadline.”

According to a report from JAMB, among those registered are 11,553 underage candidates, these are students below the official minimum admission age of 16 years.

Oloyede emphasised that the board is exceeding its daily registration targets, registering over 80,000 candidates per day, with the figure approaching 100,000 on some days.

“Even on Thursday, we registered close to 100,000 candidates across the country, which means we will complete the process long before our deadline.

“There will be no need for an extension of the registration period.”

In addition, Oloyede said; “Now, we have registered 782,027, and 11,553 of them are underage. So, you can see that as we register, the system reports from all over the country. Out of the expected two million candidates, we’re not yet at the 14th day.

“Monday will mark our 14th day. So, in two weeks, we would have completed about half of our registration process, and by that time, we expect to have over one million candidates registered. So far, everything has been smooth.”

The JAMB registrar, however, reiterated that while the minimum age for university admission remains 16, the board has made exceptions for exceptionally gifted underage candidates, allowing them to register as long as they can prove their academic capability.

“There are always exceptional students, perhaps one in a million. No matter how few they are, we should not close the door on them, which is why we allow them to register,” Oloyede said.

Meanwhile, JAMB has ruled out the possibility of extending the registration deadline for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), stating that the process has been smooth, efficient, and ahead of schedule.

Oloyede, made this known on Friday, February 14,  while monitoring registration exercises across various CBT centers in Lagos.