JAMB: How gullible UTME candidate waiting for grandfather’s ‘miracle’ refused to attempt questions in exam hall

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Saturday recounted an oddity in the ongoing 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, where a female candidate, acting on her alleged grandfather’s instruction to wait for “miraculous intervention,” refused to attempt any questions in the examination hall.

The Board said this scenario reflects the growing deception, misinformation, and gullibility many candidates face in an attempt to reap where they did not sow.

Public Communication Adviser of JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in a statement in Abuja, warned candidates against the superstitious and baseless dream of expecting miracle answers in the exam hall.

“On a lighter note, another dimension of gullibility was exhibited by a female UTME candidate who refused to attempt any question when she sat for the examination this morning because she was complying with the instruction of her grandfather to do nothing at the examination but wait for miraculous intervention.

“Of course such miracles do not happen with JAMB. Candidates are advised against superstitious and baseless dream of reaping where they did not sow,” Benjamin stated.

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He once again clarified that the Board was not responsible for the selection of preferred examination town for candidates, saying this was done by every candidate at the point of registration for the UTME.

The Board has therefore offered a cash reward to anyone with proof that JAMB is responsible for posting candidates to different examination towns.

Part of the statement read: “It is our firm belief that some parents are continually being deceived, misled and duped by their own wards and some secondary school proprietors who continue to propagate the falsehood that JAMB assigns candidates to examination centres outside their chosen examination towns.

“Let it be unequivocally clear: at the time of registration, candidates have the right to select their preferred examination town. JAMB subsequently assigns them to a centre within that chosen town.

“The baseless assertion that candidates are placed in towns different from their selections is erroneous, malicious and aimed solely at tarnishing the Board’s reputation. It never happens.

“JAMB acknowledges the importance of convenience for candidates, ensuring they sit for their examinations in locations of their choice among available CBT centres. Every candidate has the prerogative to choose their examination town, while JAMB only assigns the candidate within the chosen town.

“The Board therefore challenges this false but popular narrative by offering a handsome financial reward to any one person who can provide authentic proof of just one candidate who is posted outside the chosen town of the candidate.

“For transparency and not ‘being a judge in one’s case.’ Such proof should within the next 96 hours be sent to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) WhatsApp Number; 08056003030 so that the umpire can ensure the reward is delivered or the Board is once and for all exonerated from the recurring campaign of calumny.

“Similarly, anyone who finds no fault in airlines requesting air-travellers to arrive at the airport 2 hours before the departure time should find no fault in encouraging candidates to arrive at the CBT centres, 90 minutes before commencement of examination for preliminary verification.

“Many parents who expect candidates to spend not more than 2 hours for the 2-hour examination are apparently oblivious of the required preliminary processes.

“The public is encouraged to grant public agencies the benefit of the doubt and trust that they exist to serve public interest in the best possible manner. JAMB as a government agency is committed to public good at all times. A trial will convince any,” Benjamin stated.

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