Nearly 2m candidates register for UTME across 600 CBTs, highest in 41-year history

Almost two million candidates registered for the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) as the exam began today, Saturday.

The examination, conducted by the Joint Matriculation and Admissions Board (JAMB), will be written across 600 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide and is expected to end on April 4, 2020.

According to JAMB, the registered number of candidates is the highest so far in the 41-year history of the board.

Channels Television reports that t

o ensure smooth conduct of the examination, JAMB had deployed operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Department of State Services (DSS) to CBT centres and will also monitor activities within each hall through Closed-Circuit Television Cameras, CCTV.

The board had, in its weekly bulletin, said 63 centres would not be participating in the 2020 UTME due to various infractions, with 16 of them suspended only after the February 18 mock examination.

A breakdown of the 16 latest suspended CBT centres showed five were from Kano State, two from Gombe State, two from Bauchi State, and one from Cross River, Delta, Imo, Kwara, Lagos, and Zamfara states, as well as Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.