The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Saturday commenced the conduct of 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) nationwide with initial hitches in some examination centers.
Over 1.9 million candidates registered to sit for UTME that is spread for about three weeks, holding from 14th to 4th April 2020 in over 700 Computer Based Test Centres (CBT) across the nation.
In some of the centers monitored in Abuja, the examination could not start at 7 am as stipulated by the Board because of the initial hitches and delay in biometric verification of candidates by the JAMB officials.
At Global Distance Learning Institute, opposite Federal Ministry of Finance, examination started at about 8 am after the initial hitches were resolved and the candidates for the first session successfully verified, while the second batch commenced at about 11.30 am.
Tribune Online saw the candidates marched to the examination hall at about 11:20 after they were screened at the main auditorium of the Global Distance Learning Institute.
One of the JAMB officials at the center who spoke on condition of anonymity said the initial challenges were promptly rectified and the examination commenced in earnest at 8 am for the first batch of 200 candidates.
The source disclosed that 400 candidates were billed to take the examination at the Global Distance Learning Institute on the first day, which is 200 candidates per session, adding that the sessions might be increased in subsequent days.
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However, candidates whose biometric could be verified were not allowed to sit for the examination in line with the directive by the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who insisted that no candidate should be allowed into the examination hall without proper biometric verification.
Oloyede since assumption in office as JAMB Registrar has continued to wage relentless war on examination fraudsters who usually connive with the CBT owners to perpetuate massive examination malpractices in their centers.
Tribune Online observed that about five candidates whose biometric could not be verified at the Global Distance Learning Institute were not allowed to sit for the examination.
One of the affected candidates, Justin Favour said she registered in Katsina State but chose Abuja center for the examination. She told Tribune Online that after trying multiple times her thumbprint could be verified and was rescheduled for a later date.
Some of the candidates coming out of the examination hall described the exercise as smooth and hitch-free despite the initial delay.
A female candidate who did not want her name disclosed said that the examination started about 9 am almost two hours behind the stipulated time of 7 am as indicated in her examination e-slip.
According to her the time for the examination was extended and that she was able to attempt all the questions in the four subjects she sat for.
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