- JAMB has suspended the selection of CBT examination towns in Ekiti State for 2026 UTME candidates
- The Board says the move will allow it to restructure towns and reduce travel stress for students.
- The decision follows complaints during the 2025 UTME about postings to distant centres
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has temporarily halted the selection of examination towns for candidates registering for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Ekiti State.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by JAMB’s Public Affairs Director, Fabian Benjamin, PhD, JP on Tuesday, February 3. The suspension comes ahead of the examination scheduled to run from Thursday, April 16, to Saturday, April 25, 2026.
According to the Board, the move is aimed at reorganising examination towns in the state so that candidates can be assigned to centres closer to where they live, thereby reducing transportation difficulties.
JAMB explained that although candidates are ordinarily permitted to choose towns nearest to them, the 2026 registration process began before certain structural issues in Ekiti’s examination-town configuration were detected.
“The Board identified some anomalies in the arrangement of examination towns in the state, making urgent adjustments necessary in the interest of candidates,” the board said in the statement.
It added that the temporary suspension would allow officials to restructure the towns to ensure easier access to centres once candidates are posted for the exams. While the adjustment process is ongoing, applicants will be unable to select any examination town in Ekiti State, though registration itself will continue. JAMB also apologised for any inconvenience this may cause.
The decision follows controversies that trailed the 2025 UTME, when some candidates complained of being posted to faraway CBT centres, leading to added travel expenses and logistical stress for families.
In Cross River State, for instance, some students claimed they were assigned to centres in neighbouring Akwa Ibom or distant local government areas such as Obudu, journeys said to take between two and five hours from Calabar. Reports also suggested that some candidates had to travel overnight or pay for accommodation to sit for the exam.
JAMB, however, denied posting candidates outside their selected towns and even offered financial rewards to anyone who could provide proof. The Board maintained that all postings were made within chosen locations and urged parents and candidates to verify information before drawing conclusions.
For the 2026 UTME, JAMB has approved 848 CBT centres nationwide after assessing them for technical and operational readiness.
Prospective candidates have been advised to complete their JAMB profiles and ensure their National Identification Number (NIN) details are accurate before registering.
The Board has also introduced a strict “No Vision, No Registration, No UTME” policy, which mandates real-time monitoring of all CBT centres from its Abuja headquarters. Any centre whose registration process cannot be viewed live risks having its registrations cancelled and will not receive payment.
These new measures, JAMB said, are designed to curb manipulation of candidate photographs and registration data, problems that were recorded during the 2025 registration exercise.
JAMB clarifies candidates can take exams anywhere in Nigeria
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had affirmed that candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) can write the exam in any location across Nigeria, regardless of where they registered.
The clarification follows a misleading report suggesting that candidates must take the UTME in the same state where they completed their registration.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, by JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, the exam body refuted the claim, describing it as false and misleading.