By Laide Oriere

ABUJA —The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB,  yesterday, said the board would not extend its registration deadline.

This was in reaction to protests by some secondary school students in Edo and Lagos states over the closure of  registration portal in preparation for the 2016 examination.

In a statement issued by JAMB and signed by head media, JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in Abuja, the examination body said though the board sympathised with the candidates, they were given about seven months to register, adding that the board needed to prepare for the examination that would start on February 29, 2016.

Some students, on Friday, in Edo and Lagos states protested against an alleged sudden closure of the JAMB online registration portal.

The statement read: “The attention of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has been drawn to the protest by some alleged UTME candidates in Benin and Lagos. The candidates were said to be protesting over the closure of the board’s registration portal in preparation for the 2016 examination which is due to begin in less than a week from today.

“The board sincerely sympathizes with the plight of these prospective candidates and states that it’s the wish of the board that Nigerian youths desirous of tertiary education are given ample opportunity to register for its examination. This was why it began the sale of its application document last August, that is about seven months ago.

“In the advertisement for the sale of the registration documents, the board clearly stated that the sales would close by January, but due to public appeal it extended the registration process to February.

“It’s imperative to disclose that the closure was also to allow the board to prepare adequately for the examination  slated for the end of February. The board cannot allow candidates to register perpetually. It has a time table and it adheres strictly to it to allow the tertiary institutions begin the process of admission early. We all must work to enshrine the culture of discipline in the system.”

The board said it was quite unfortunate that some candidates waited until their website was withdrawn before making attempts to register.

“The scenario looks very suspicious, for a candidate who is billed to sit for an examination slated for February to suddenly appear in the same February protesting his inability to register less than a week to the examination when he knew that the registration was to close in the same month.

“Through this same process, over 1.5 million candidates have applied within this period and the board has made adequate preparation for them to sit for the 2016 exercise.

Special centre

“However, it is common knowledge that one of the challenges of public examination in Nigeria is examination malpractice and one of the antics of the perpetrators of these acts is to force the board into establishing a special centre where late candidates will be bunched together to perpetrate exam malpractice.

“There are no special centres any more because they are being used as insecurity avenues.”

He stressed that the board was working tirelessly to conduct one of the best examinations globally.

He also denied that the board posted candidates that are taking the examination to far centres.

He said: “The board will like to use this opportunity to correct the misconception created by candidates that the board posted them to far away examination centres