The registration for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) has ended after a one-week extension announced by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

The spokesperson for the board, Fabian Benjamin, made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

The board had granted the extension to accommodate candidates who could not register for the examination within the allowable window of January 14 to February 14 due to recent developments in the country.

Mr Benjamin said at the close of the registration, about 1.6 million candidates had successfully registered for the 2023 UTME.

” This number does not include the Direct Entry component of the exercise, which had started on Monday, 20th February 2023, before it was put on hold on Tuesday, 21st February 2023.

” The board registrar’s monitoring team, which has gone round the country, was in Nasarawa and Delta states on the final day of the exercise to oversee its conclusion,” he said.

According to him, from every indication, this year’s exercise is shaping up to be the smoothest the board has ever had.

”However, based on reports received from the various monitoring teams across the country, the board will review its SIM number swap policy.

”This is because it will now require the Telcos to confirm that the old SIM being put forward for swapping previously belonged to the applicant but had been issued to another person,” he said.

The JAMB spokesperson added that this would therefore preclude the possibility of a “SIM welcome back” before such swapping would be approved. 

(NAN)