The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says over N100 million was spent to organise its 2022 mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) hedl on Saturday.

The exam body, however, expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the exam held in 45 centres across the country.

The exam was for candidates who could not participate in the examination during the main exercise in May due to various reasons, including examination malpractice. 

The board noted that after every exercise, it reviewed various reports from officials in the field and video footage of the examination.

It said a team of experts conducted this to detect activities subversive of the process.

JAMB registrar Ishaq Oloyede told journalists while monitoring the exam in Lagos that over 42,000 candidates participated across five states.

“Yes, we are here to monitor the conduct of this examination in Lagos. After a thorough analysis of the conduct of the 2022 UTME in 10 centres spread across five states of the federation where examination malpractice was established to have taken place, it became necessary to cancel the results of all candidates who sat for the examination in the affected states,” stated Mr Oloyede.

He decried the activities of centres involved in malpractices during the main examination held early in May.

“They have seen for themselves that cutting corners does not pay. They have seen that they are repeating the examination, though it costs us a lot of money,” said Mr Oloyede regarding the students sitting the mop-up exam. “The only shortcut to success is hard work.”

According to the registrar, rewriting the UTME has cost JAMB over N100 million. 

“My advice, therefore, for candidates generally, especially those writing this examination here today, is that they have seen for themselves what all of us have made of the country,” Mr Oloyede stressed. 

He added, “They are free to determine whether they want to continue with this system or on their own, whether they are eager to create a better tomorrow, and the better tomorrow is not to cheat in the examination.”

(NAN)