THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has advised candidates wishing to write the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to register with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to enable them obtain the National Identification Number (NIN).

The board said the NIN would be compulsory for UTME registration next year.

It insisted that only candidates with NIN would be allowed to sit for the examination next year.

JAMB said it would no longer capture the biometrics of candidates as information required by the board would be uploaded from the data captured by the NIMC for registration.

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Its Head of Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, explained the board’s position on NIN in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja.

Benjamin said the NIN would guard against all forms of registration infractions.

He said: “Henceforth, the National Identification Number (NIN) would be compulsory for the UTME registration.

“All candidates desiring to register for the 2020 UTME, other JAMB processes, are urged to visit the nearest NIMC centre or its licensed agents for the NIN registration ahead of the UTME registration, if they have not done so.”

Dr. Benjamin stressed that candidates would be required to present their NIN at the point of registration.

He said the board has made arrangements with NIMC for candidates who do not have the NIN to be registered at the centre by NIMC or its licensed agents.

The JAMB spokesperson advised candidates who had registered and acquired the NIN before attaining the age of 16 to update their NIN registration status before proceeding for the UTME registration.

“If a candidate has NIN but has misplaced the number, he/she can retrieve the NIN by either going to any NIMC office/its licensed agents or dialling *346# (USSD Code) on the SIM number earlier used to register for the NIN and the NIN would be sent to the candidate.

“If he/she does not have the SIM number used for the NIN registration, such a candidate should visit the nearest NIMC centre or any of its licensed agents.

“Candidate’s name, as arranged on the NIMC data base, would be same on JAMB data after registration.

“If any candidate has complaints of name arrangement such a candidate should first rectify such issue with NIMC before proceeding for registration,” he added.