Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), criticized some private secondary schools for allegedly extorting candidates for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and mishandling their data.

During an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Oloyede disclosed that these private schools manipulate the data of candidates who happen to be their students. He emphasized that the Board consistently mandates individual registration for each candidate using their personal phone.

Oloyede clarified that UTME is not affiliated with any particular school; therefore, schools should not collectively register students or charge fees higher than the official amount approved by the Federal Government.

Addressing the issue, Oloyede stated, “What we are urging candidates to do is to visit the center and register. However, a significant challenge we are facing involves students, both with and without disabilities, as UTME is not a school-based examination.

“There are private secondary schools extorting candidates, charging them 10,000, 20,000 for JAMB forms when the official fee is just 6,000 or 7,000. They are mishandling the candidates’ data.”

The JAMB registrar further emphasized, “Each candidate should register using their own phone, but these individuals are merging their data together.”

"Even a single institution, Federal Government College Bwari, requested special registration for people with disabilities. It is not feasible; we are not school-based. We register individual candidates for university admission, not groups."

Last year, JAMB announced the establishment of 11 UTME centers specifically for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).

Oloyede explained that the primary rationale behind creating these centers was to ensure equal opportunities for all UTME candidates.

He stated, "We recognized the need for special attention for persons with disabilities and decided to establish centers with the assistance of various individuals and organizations."

"The aim is to provide support for those with physical disabilities. We understand that they require special attention, which may not be readily available in the 774 centers nationwide."

“Therefore, we created centers as close as possible to their locations to facilitate easier access. Although this may still pose a challenge for them, our goal is to provide equal opportunities for all candidates.”