The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) took action on Sunday, April 21, against some of its accredited officials following an incident where a female candidate wearing hijab for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) was asked to remove her headcover before sitting for the examination.
Fabian Benjamin, the board’s Public Communication Advisor, issued a statement addressing the matter.
The statement reads: “The Board deeply regretted the incident and, on investigation, discovered, that this particular incident, or others in the past, is not linked to any of its examination guidelines but rather a product of the misplaced priority of some of the Board’s accredited partners or officials who claimed ignorance of the Board’s guidelines on accreditation, which ensures that all candidates are screened, allowing only female officials to screen female candidates before allowing them to gain entrance into the hall.
“This situation was instantly addressed by a senior official of the Board at the centre and the candidate in question was allowed in after the usual checks with her hijab.
“However, since ignorance of the law is not an excuse, the officials have been appropriately sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others, who might wish to toe the same line going forward.
“It is worthy of note that the Board, as a national institution, has no policy barring candidates from sporting the religious paraphernalia peculiar to their religious persuasions, as these are the facts of everyday life in Nigeria, which everyone should have been familiar with by now.
“Furthermore, the Board assures the general public that this issue will be properly investigated, as it had done in past incidents, to prevent a recurrence, and nothing will be swept under the carpet.
“The Board is committed to the discharge of its statutory role of ensuring that suitably qualified candidates are selected for admission into the nation’s tertiary institutions and would not allow anything or anyone to detract it from the pursuit of this noble goal.
“Meanwhile, the conduct of the 2024 UTME, which commenced on Friday, 19th April 2024, had been seamless, as over 1.2 million candidates would have successfully taken the examination by Monday, 22nd April 2024.”
Related Stories
- JAMB Arrests Father While Sitting Examination for Son
- JAMB Uncovers 3,000 Fake Graduates in Nigeria
- 86 Universities and Others Conducted Admissions that Were Illegal
Benjamin assured the public that JAMB would continue to uphold its standards of fairness, transparency, and integrity in all its operations. He urged stakeholders to remain vigilant and cooperative in ensuring the smooth conduct of future examinations.