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JAMB registrar monitors UTME registration in Lagos
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has urged candidates for this year’s UTME not to allow a third party do the registration for them.
Registrar of the board, Prof. Is’haq Oloyede gave the advice while monitoring the ongoing exercise on Friday in Lagos.
According to him, research has shown that most of the errors recorded on candidates’ data are traced to third party registration, and some of them can be costly.
He said that such registration by proxy also encouraged extortion.
“The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is not a school examination like WASSCE, where you can compile list of candidates before forwarding to the examination body.
“In the case of the UTME, we deal directly with our candidates. They should be allowed to do the registration by themselves.
“We must insist on doing the right thing now, by not allowing anyone to do the registration for the candidates,” he said.
The registrar said that already, some 1.2 million candidates had so far registered for the UTME as of Friday, out of the anticipated 1.5 million.
He said that the registration for the Direct Entry candidates had yet to begin.
The registrar described the registration process as seamless nationwide, while also commending members of staff of the board for a job well done.
He, however, decried the poor turnout of candidates in the centres visited, urging them to hurry and get themselves registered before the end of the exercise.
“What we have observed in these centres is the absence of candidates coming in to do their registration for the examination.
“As you have noticed, there are empty seats all over the place in these centres because candidates are not forthcoming.
“I can say for two reasons or either of the two reasons. One is that given the seamless arrangements that we have made, it is possible for all serious candidates to have registered and therefore, you cannot manufacture more candidates.
“This is despite the fact that we still have 15 days to go to the end of the exercise. We thank God for that and we also thank God for our partners.
“NIMC is doing a great job now, no longer the way it used to be. The staff of the board too must be commended for their commitment to the job. They are doing well.
“I have practically been to all parts of the country, to see what is going on and I can tell you that it has been hitch free.
“The second one, which is the unfortunate one, is that of prospective candidates who will not come forward now for their registration, until three or five days to the end of the exercise,” said.
According to him, there will be no extension of the registration of candidates for this year’s UTME.
He urged candidates to intensify their efforts in ensuring that they get registered within the time frame for the exercise in any of the 780 centres across the country.
“We still have 15 days to go. Just yesterday alone, we registered 84,000 candidates but we made provision for 100,000.
“The day before yesterday, we registered over 20,000, instead of 100,000 and so far today, we have registered about 39,000 and the day is far spent, which means we will not be able to register 100,000 candidates.
“Many of the CBT centres are doing well. Look at WAEC. They are doing very well and I am not surprised. This is what it should be.
“Some persons who are insinuating that we do not have the capacity, as you can see, WAEC has scaled it up even to their main examination now.
“If we had not done what we had to do, at that time, where will these candidates come from? Where will the CBT centres that WAEC is accrediting come from?
“So, what we need to do is to start from somewhere. The whole world cannot be going in one direction and we will be going toward the opposite,” the registrar said.
He said what was needed was to increase digital literacy of the people, both young and old, and then, keep on moving.
“We will not wait until we have all the powers in this world; we should just continue to do the best that we can do,” he said.
Oloyode said that the board increased the service charge for the CBT centres, but it did not affect the normal charge of registration fees.(NAN)
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Resources Authority says it has commenced a clampdown on illegal LPG retail outlets in Akwa Ibom State.
The state Coordinator, Ikechukwu Eseka, disclosed this on Thursday while receiving the state commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Bakshar Hussaini, in his office on a courtesy visit.
He said, “We have started enforcement of LPG retailers embarking on illegal decanting of LPG, filling stations, LPG refilling plants and other illegal downstream operations in the state.
“We are currently working on the illegal proliferation of decanting of LPG in the state, Eseka stated, adding that gas is very volatile, and some of them are using gas that is not meant for the purpose.”
He said he has directed that gas plant owners should not load gas on people who don’t have licenses NMDPRA in the state, warning that “decanting of gas from cylinder to cylinder is an illegal activity which is punishable by law.”
He also called on marketers to register and renew their licenses before operating LPG in the state.
“We used the opportunity to talk on the aspects of the downstream which has to do with our enforcement, sealing of filling stations and those who are using diesel for industrial purposes that are yet to register with NMDPRA.
“We have also commenced engagement with individuals and organisations using storage tanks that are over 500 litres, to come and register with the Authority in the state,” he added.
Eseka thanked the Commandant for coming to re-strategise and collaborate with the Authority in the state.
Earlier, the State Commandant of NSCDC, Hussaini, explained that the purpose of coming was to collaborate with NMDPRA on how to checkmate indiscriminate decanting of LPG in the state.
“I know with the present situation in the country, a lot of them are going to cry and you have to use human face to handle their cases so that we don’t injure the government and the public themselves,” he said.
He lamented that some people used their houses to sell cooking gas which can cause environmental hazards to the public.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced plans to phase out the Permanent Voter Cards, PVC.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made this known at a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs, held at the INEC Conference Room, Abuja on Thursday.
This was part of the identified 142 recommendations released by the Commission which deals with the general state of preparedness, voter management, voter education and public communication, political parties and candidate management.
Other areas of recommendation include electoral operations and logistics management, election officials and personnel, partnership and collaboration, monitoring and supervision, election technology, voting and result management, election security, electoral offences and the electoral legal framework.
The Chairman said there are eight recommendations among the 142 which require legislative action by the National Assembly.
“The Commission also believes that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, the use of the Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVC, as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on Election Day should be reviewed.
He, however, said that those who already have the Permanent Voter Cards can still use them to vote.
He added, “But going forward, computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation. ”
Yakubu said this new development will save costs and further eliminate the issues around the collection of Permanent Voter Cards.
He also said the practice of buying up the Permanent Voter Cards from voters to disenfranchise them, would be reduced.
President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to present the 2025 proposed budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
The announcement was made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during a plenary session, revealing that the President has sent a communication to that effect.
“The president has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025m budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on the 17th of December, 2024,” he said.
The proposed budget, totalling N47.9 trillion, was earlier announced by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Bagudu.
NMDPRA begins clampdown on illegal LPG retail outlets in Akwa Ibom
Elections in Nigeria: There’ll be no more need for voter cards – INEC
BREAKING: Tinubu to present 2025 budget proposal to National Assembly Tuesday
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