The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it is seeking a waiver from the federal government to allow some affected applicants for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and Direct Entry examination to purchase new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card for registration.
The JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede said this in Abuja on Friday during a virtual meeting with owners of Computer Based Test Centres, service providers and other stakeholders to kickstart the 2021 UTME/DE registration.
In his explanation, the JAMB boss noted that the exemption being sought is only for candidates who wish to apply for this year’s examination but have never bought a sim card before.
Oloyede added that talks have been opened with the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami to grant a conditioned waiver to an estimated 20 percent of candidates without a sim card.
Naija News recalls the sale, registration and activation of new SIM Cards was suspended by the federal government in 2019 through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to allow for an audit of the Subscriber Registration Database.
The NCC noted that the suspension which it ordered Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to carry out will be in place until the audit exercise was concluded.
But for candidates who will need to obtain new sim cards for their registration, Prof Oloyede said: “We have told the National Communication Commission (NCC), approached the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy and we are hopeful that we will be granted waiver with of course, conditionalities which we must ensure the candidates meet.
“Not all the candidates are without sim, 80 percent of the candidates already have their number, we are talking of the 20 percent and if we are fortunate enough to secure the waiver of the minister through the NCC, we will go ahead to make sure there is full compliance to the conditionalities because it is in our interest as a nation that those things that are put in place should be allowed to protect all of us.”
It will be recalled as earlier reported by Naija News that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Wednesday announced that registration for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and Direct Entry examination will begin on Thursday, 8th April.
According to the JAMB Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin who made the announcement, the sale of forms will end on Saturday, 15th May 2021.
He added that the UTME itself would hold from Saturday, 5th to Saturday, 19th June 2021.
Applicants must also have their National Identity Number (NIN) before they can register for the examinations as it is part of the requirements for this year’s registration exercise.