Prospective applicants have voiced frustration over their inability to link their phone lines with their National Identification Number (NIN) or “incorrect” information contained in their NIN details, just a few days after the sale of forms for the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) began.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) required prospective applicants to utilise their NIN during the application process in order to address concerns about malpractice and impersonation during examinations.
However since the exercise began on January 15, many have complained that they are unable to link their details and create electronic pins for registration. In response, the examination body said that it has arranged a meeting with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) leadership.
Sophia Ikoku, one of the applicants, claimed that “even after following the instructions, and repeating the processes many times,” she was unable to generate the required profile code for registration.
Kole Opatola, a parent, also stated that the data that NIMC provided for his daughter differs from the data that was given at the registration desk.
“The local government area for her state of origin provided during her NIN registration is quite different from what we found at the point of registration. Her date of birth is 25th, but we saw 23rd. We are aware changing such requires as much as N15,000 and takes time to effect,” Opatola said.
“These children shouldn’t be made to face this kind of crisis because they are seeking admission into tertiary institutions. Things ought to have improved better than this mess we now face,” another parent, who identified herself as Peace Ogunlade, stated.
In the majority of the centres visited, applicants complained about not being able to link their details, and the situation remained unchanged.The examination body is concerned about the development and has scheduled a meeting with NIMC to talk about it and figure out how to address it.
According to Fabian Benjamin, head of JAMB’s public affairs, the organisation is taken aback by the number of grievances raised by parents and applicants. He did, however, encourage candidates to stop registering for the UTME till NIMC updated and corrected any inaccurate information they found in their NIN records.
