JAMB laments court order preventing it from tracking impersonation

The attempt by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to commence the screening of results obtained from 2009 to 2019 has suffered a major set back following a court injunction, an official said on Wednesday.

JAMB had proposed to commence the screening of results obtained by candidates in its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from 10 years ago to track impersonation.

Fabian Benjamin, the board’s head, media and information, told NAN in Lagos that the only way to ensure that the country took its rightful position among the comity of nation was to sanitise its education system.

He noted that until this was achieved through concerted efforts by all stakeholders, there might be no meaningful progress.

“Recall that we had proposed to screen all UTME results from 10 years till now, that is, results obtained between 2009 and 2019,” he said.

“The purpose is to check impersonation. We intend to probe the results and publish names of those who may have cheated too.

“We have already put some mechanisms on ground, consulted with experts so as to ensure we carry out a thorough job devoid of lapses or blames.

“However, while we were about to conclude the process, we were surprised to now receive a court order, restraining us from going ahead with the screening.

“It is sad as it is shameful that apparently, some persons who could have benefited from such evil act of impersonation or those who may have sponsored some persons to carry out the crime have gone to court to stop the board from doing its job.”

According to him, this is a clear illustration of a society where people can do whatever it takes to defend fraud.

“To address all societal ills therefore, we must be prepared to call a spade a spade,” he said.

“Ours is to sanitise the education system because we believe that it has the potential to address all other vices.”