As the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), commenced nationwide on Thursday, orderliness characterised most of the centers across the nation city center as observed by Royal News correspondent in Abuja.
This is as over two million candidates who are seeking admission into tertiary institutions are expected to sit for the examination in more than 800 Computer-Based Test (CBT) Centers across Nigeria.
The CBT centers monitored by ROYAL NEWS correspondent shoed that the centers which have the capacity of admitting 250 candidates saw a huge turn out as candidates arrived for both morning and afternoon session in their numbers.
It was observed that while some candidates arrived as early as 6:00 AM for the accreditation exercise, which began around 6:30 AM at the Rosa Mystica Academy JAMB CBT Accredited Center in Byazhin, Kubwa, a few candidates arrived late for the examination. The same situation was experienced for Adeola International School before the commencement of the first batch of the examination, which started at 8 AM.
One of the examination supervisor, Dr Aminu Abdullahi Isiaku who spoke to Royal News at Adeola International school, noted that candidates came on time and before their arrival to make the necessary arrangement for them. The centre management has been supportive also.
According to Isiaku, the conduct has been satisfactory, with about 236 candidates taking the first batch of the exam with a few absentees and no malpractice or issues at all, while about 250 candidates were expected for the second batch.
He also noted that the center did not experience any technical glitches, supervisors, parents/guardians, and candidates have raised concerns over the timing of the examination, especially the first batch, which usually commences by 8:00 AM.
“We had about 236 candidates this morning, with very few absentees. We have not recorded any malpractice, and a few officials from JAMB came to monitor the proceedings,” Abdullahi said.
“Our server is working fine, and the BVR machine and system are functioning well. There have been no technical issues beyond our local control.”
Similarly, the supervisor at Rosa Mystica Academy, Salihu Mustapha, affirmed that the examination for the 250-capacity hall began seven minutes past 8:00 AM.
However stated that for the first, only 238 candidates were verified and sat for the examination, with 12 candidates unable to make it to the CBT centre.
“The candidates must be commended for coming early, although a few came late. We started accreditation around 6:30 AM, and the examination started promptly around 8:00 AM,” Mustapha said.
“So far, we haven’t witnessed any technical glitches. This is the second session, and the first session went on smoothly in the morning. We are hopeful that the examinations will continue smoothly throughout.”
Some parents who brought their wards for the examination appealed to jamb to review their time for the first session to at least 9:00 AM to allow candidates traveling from far distances to arrive on time, and also reschedule those that missed the exam due to timing.
The parent also urged JAMB to consider the safety of the candidates and their parents who would be taking them to the examination centers across the country as leaving home early is no longer safe in Nigeria.
