•Candidates
Parents and candidates sitting for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) say they are facing multiple challenges at various centres since the commencement of the exercise on Monday, February 3.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had earlier shifted the registration from Jan.31 to allow it to implement essential adjustments to its registration templates, reports Daily Trust.
The JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, in a statement said: “These adjustments came in light of the recent suspension of certain law programmes at selected universities, as submitted to the board by the Council for Legal Education.
“Additionally, the board discovered that some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres had used deceptive facilities to be approved, prompting the need for further scrutiny and corrections by disapproving such centres.”
He said the additional time would be used to ensure that all necessary changes were made for a smooth registration process.
However, despite the adjustments, parents and candidates said they are experiencing overcrowding, power outages and attempts to fleece them by some centres’ staff.
Some of the parents took to different social media to voice out their frustration and the risks and trouble they had to go through to get their wards registered.
The Vice Principal Academics of Rex Christus College Kubwa, Abuja, Chibuogwu Nicodemus, who took his students to a centre of the registration told our correspondent that the major challenge was that of generating profile code.
He said JAMB made it mandatory for candidates to obtain the code before registering.
“The challenge now is that the majority of the students in my school are yet to get their profile code. Each time they try to generate, they will tell them that there is no record found and some will get a message that they will get back to them,” he said.
He said they also had an issue of network failure, which lasted for five hours.
Nicodemus added that there were only two centres in Kubwa.
“So, the crowd was so much, everywhere was crowded that I even thanked the owners of the registration center on how they were able to manage the crowd.”
A parent, who took to Facebook with the name Simeon Ogoebulem wrote: “Today, I woke up by 4am to help take my daughter to CBT centre for the continuation of her JAMB registration process. Today marks the fifth day she’s been battling to register for the 2025 UTME examination.
“By the time we got there, a crowd had already formed. I keep wondering why the Prof. Oloyede-led JAMB has continued to bungle its examination processes. From profile code registration to filling out the forms to capturing, it’s been one hectic hurdle after the other.
“This morning, I saw near hopelessness on the faces of these children. The security men at the gate were more interested in how to cash into the near chaos to line their pockets. I had to help organise them so that the registration would be a bit easier. I just hoped the arrangements would not be discarded as I left the venue.”
An X user, Toritsefe Jack, said: “Some of the registration centres in Ikorodu, Lagos State, are delaying students that have been to the centres very early in the morning by collecting bribe from students that just came to jump queue…and it is outrageous.”
Another parent with user name Phreety Mrs said: “In Calabar it’s worse, my children have to leave home by 3am to JAMB office and they are expected to pay N5000 before they are attended to! My kids are girls and imagine the horror of going to the JAMB office everyday by 3am to join the queue but they don’t get attended to.’’
Ikechukwu Duru also said: “We’re also experiencing the same issue here in Abia. It seems like ours is more frustrating because we have been coming up for a week but each day, we go back without being attended to. We need JAMB’s attention in this CBT centre.”
Another user, Ezra Kachi, said: “I also have a complaint to make on the registration process. The centre I am talking about is the LASU CBT centre. They are very corrupt and wicked there; they left children outside in the sun just because they couldn’t bribe their way in. I would like you guys to look into it, please.”
A candidate who does not want to be named said she went the first day but was told the required number to be registered for the day had been captured and she was asked to go back home.
She said she had to leave early the next day but still did not meet up but was able to register on the third day.
JAMB had warned against the practice of nocturnal (night time) registration for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination by registration centres across the country.
It said the board expressed concerns over the safety and security of prospective candidates, cautioning the affected centres to immediately cease such activities.
In Kano, our correspondent reports that candidates and parents are facing significant challenges in registering for the UTME.
Problems being faced include, among others, poor telecommunication networks.
Many candidates have reported spending days at a registration centre without success due to persistent network failures and limited daily slots allocated for direct entry applicants.
A prospective university direct entry candidate said: “I have spent three days trying to register, yet I haven’t succeeded. Many centres have a cap on the number of candidates they register daily, and for direct entry applicants, the number is even more limited. One centre only registers five candidates per day.”
Fatima Garba, another candidate, expressed her frustration over repeated failed attempts due to network issues.
“I have been coming here every day since Monday, yet I am still not registered. The network problem is really affecting us,” she said.
Parents also lament
Parents and guardians are equally frustrated by the difficulties in securing registration for their wards.
Usman Musa, a parent, said: “It’s unfortunate that, after so many years, we are still dealing with the same issues. Why can’t we get such a simple process right?”
Another parent, Sulaiman Abdullahi, shared how he had to postpone an official trip just to assist his daughter with registration.
“I was supposed to travel to Lagos today, but I had to put it on hold. I’m not sure she can handle everything alone, and someone needs to be there to ensure her choices are correctly inputted,” he explained.
Many candidates and parents called on JAMB to urgently address the network issues and ensure a smoother registration process for all.
Students complain in Lagos
In Lagos, some students lamented that the ongoing JAMB registration process has not been smooth, saying some influential schools were bribing their way to fast-track the exercise.
Adewale Favour, who spoke with our correspondent at one of the centres in Lagos, said, “I got here in the morning, I already had my pin, so I just went to join the queue, they were attending to their school students and some principals brought their own students to do registrations too. While we were sitting and waiting, those that came after us were bribing them and they took them to the front.
“They continued doing that till after 8pm. I could not do mine on that day; I had to return early the next morning around 6:30 am. Luckily the principal of the school was around and made it compulsory for everyone to follow the line. So, I did mine and left around 9-10 pm.”
When our correspondent contacted the JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr Fabian Benjamin, he said they have registered 600,000 candidates.
“We have registered 600,000. So, if they are not able to register, who are we registering? Our registration has not reached one week, so they have been going there before we started registration.
“Any candidate that desires to register for the exam will register for the exam. They should just be patient in order to register,” he said.
