JAMB makes U-turn, extends UTME registration by one week

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has extended the registration for the 2023 UTME by one week.

The board had fixed February 14 as deadline for the registration, which started on January 14.

JAMB had also warned that it would not extend the registration deadline.

But in a statement by Fabian Benjamin, its spokesperson, on Wednesday, the board said the deadline has been extended to February 22.

“By this extension, the sale of ePINs would end on Monday, 20th February, 2023, while the UTME registration ends on Wednesday, 22nd February, 2023,” the statement reads.

“Recall that in line with the Board’s 2023 Schedule of Activities, as earlier released, the closing date for the sale of both the ePINs and the 2023 UTME application documents was slated for Tuesday, 14th February, 2023.

“At the close of the sale of ePINs on Tuesday, 14th February, 2023, 1,527,068 candidates had succesfully registered for the 2023 UTME exercise inclusive of the 168,748, who indicated their interest to take the Mock-UTME.

“It should also be noted that the Board, based on its projections, had expanded its capacity to register up to a hundred thousand candidates per day. With this, it was possible to register all desiring candidates within the space of a few days.

“However, less than fifty thousand candidates were turning up for registration which is less than the installed registration capacity. Surprisingly, in the last two days before the closing date, the pace picked up remarkably with over a hundred thousand candidates registering on a daily basis.

“Furthermore, the board, as a responsive and proactive agency, took cognisance of the reports from across the country indicating some difficulties being faced by many Nigerians in using their electronic channels to purchase the ePINs or obtain cash readily within the stipulated period.

“It has, as a consequence, granted this extension to ensure that all candidates who desire to register for the 2023 UTME are given the opportunity to do so expecially when the extant challenges are not of their own making.”