The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has concluded plans for the 2024 Unified Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The exam will be held between Friday, April 19, and Monday, April 29, in over 700 CBT centres nationwide.

Over 1.98 million candidates successfully registered to sit the 2024 UTME.

In its latest bulletin, JAMB published a list of items candidates must keep out of the exam hall.

Some of these items are smart watches, smart lenses (unprescribed glasses), calculators, smart rings, smart pens, bluetooth devices, and flash drives, among others.

JAMB said candidates are also advised to avoid using decorative tattoos on their palms as these can impact their biometric screening.

The board said candidates are warned to steer clear of all items that have been banned from the examination centres.

It said these items have been noted to have aided some dishonest candidates in their quest to perpetrate examination malpractice.

“To signal the commencement of the process, candidates have been directed to print their 2024 UTME notification slips, which would enable them to know their examination centre as well as the date and time of their examination,” the board said.

“Candidates are enjoined to adhere to the etiquette and guidelines of the examination as stipulated in their notification slips and be at the venue of their examination at the scheduled time to afford them the opportunity of going through biometric verification.

“Any candidate who is 30 minutes late would not be allowed to sit the examination and would be marked as absent.

“The board also reiterates its zero tolerance for examination infractions and other unwholesome practices that could be detrimental to the conduct of the examinations.”

JAMB said parents are requested to refrain from being around the examination premises.

It said any candidate found with a parent in the examination vicinity would face penalties.

As candidates prepare for the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, scheduled to commence on April 19, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and the Nigeria Police have warned them against patronising fake sites for printing slip.

The two organisations gave the warning at a joint news conference in Abuja on Saturday.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the emergence of several fake websites created by unscrupulous individuals with the intention of misleading candidates had been observed. Therefore, he said, there was a need for candidates to beware of their tactics.

According to him, these fake sites are designed to deceive innocent candidates into providing personal details. These include registration numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers exploited for malicious purposes.

“Both JAMB and the Nigeria Police Force condemn these fraudulent activities. And (we) hereby reiterate our readiness to safeguard the interests of candidates and maintain the integrity of the examination process.

Where to sprint slips
“We urge parents, guardians, and all stakeholders to ensure that candidates print their UTME Notification Slips only from the Board’s approved website: www.jamb.gov.ng.

“Candidates can print their slips from the comfort of their homes. Or visit any of the over 700 accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide,” he said.

Adejobi explained that the force was familiar with the tactics employed by the fraudsters, especially during the annual assessment and admission exercises.

He, therefore, said that both organisations were actively sensitising candidates and the public about these deceptive practices.

“Any candidate who visits these fake sites will definitely have unreliable information and thereby miss out in the forthcoming exams.

“Candidates are advised to print their UTME Notification Slips before Friday, 19th April 2024, to access vital information about their examinations.

“Any website other than www.jamb.gov.ng offering UTME slip printing services is fake and designed to defraud candidates,” he added.

He also called on candidates to beware of sites offering ‘live’ questions and answers. The Police said they were false and deceptive, saying that accessing such materials was prohibited.

He further said the board is partnering with the Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre, NPF-NCCC, to address online scam-related issues seamlessly.

He assured candidates and the public of the force firm dedication to ensuring a fair and transparent examination process.

Also, he stressed that the Inspector-General of Police had ordered the NPF-NCCC to go after scammers and fraudsters who engage in cyber-related crimes and create phishing sites/portals.

JAMB pledges
On his part, the JAMB Spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, pledged the Board’s commitment to continue in playing its role

He, therefore, urged candidates to ignore any unsolicited messages noting that they were scams aimed at defrauding candidates.

Recall that the 2024 UTME is scheduled to commence on Friday, 19th April, and end on Monday, 29th April, 2024.

The University of Ibadan (UI) appears to have commenced an upward review of the fees for its fresh students.

Multiple student sources confirmed to TheCable on Thursday that the rates, hiked by up to 480%, were published on their online portals.

Keye Abiona, the UI dean of student affairs, was quoted as initially confirming the hike to a media publication at the university campus.

The dean however declined further comment on the matter when contacted by TheCable.

Adejoke Akinpelu, the university PRO, told TheCable that the portal will, in due time, give a full picture of what the 2024 rates should be.

“The fees are personalised for the students based on their courses of study and will be uploaded on their platforms from tomorrow or later. Kindly wait until the fees are uploaded and you have the facts,” the university public relations person stated in a text.

Student sources who spoke to TheCable on the matter shared screenshots of the new rates displayed on their respective portals.

One such shows a base fee of N372,000 with an additional N40,000 to be incurred in utility and technology fees, amounting to N412,000.

Another shows N203,500 in total university fees payable by the fresh student, including both utility and technology fees.

Some students in other departments clarified that they were not able to access their studentship portal.

A student admitted in 2023 confirmed that new intakes at the University of Ibadan previously paid between N64,600 to N69,600.

This change amounts to a hike of 492.5 percent, with well-sought courses like medicine paying much higher than their counterparts.

In 2023, several federal universities raised their fees by over 100%, citing a rising cost of living that impacted operational expenditure.

Among the federal universities that upped their rate are the University of Lagos (UNILAG) which amounted to a hike of about 800 percent, the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and the University of Nigeria (UNN) Nsukka.

The hikes resulted in a nationwide protest across campuses, with students forcing university management into negotiating a drop.

The management of UI, at around that time, also moved to raise the total fees payable by its fresh intakes to N175,000 on average in a proposal that remained unapproved due to the nationwide dissolution of public university governing councils by the federal government.