MIRIAM NNOLI 
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Sunday responded to criticisms by the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, over the early resumption time for its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
New Telegraph reports that Obi, in a post on his X handle on Sunday, decried reports of candidates, mostly teenagers, being asked to travel to examination centers as early as 6:30 am despite security concerns.
Obi described the situation as reckless, citing incidents of accidents and missing candidates, and blamed it on what he called Nigeria’s inadequate investment in education.
According to the former Governor of Anambra State, setting exams for vulnerable teenagers at such early hours was endangering lives and exposing deeper systemic failures in the country’s education sector.
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Reacting to Obi’s comments, JAMB clarified that while candidates are expected to arrive by 6:30 am for verification and clearance, the examinations officially begin at 8:00 am.
The board explained that the early arrival was necessary to prevent late-coming, which could disrupt the exercise.
The statement reads, “Your Excellency, I must assert that our examination is scheduled to commence at 8:00am, not 6:00 am. While verification and other clearance processes begins at 6:30am , it is imperative that candidates are afforded adequate time to settle in before the exam begins.
“Given the tendencies often observed among Nigerians to arrive late when a start time is set without space for eventuality, this structured timeline is essential to ensure that all candidates are properly prepared and can perform to the best of their abilities.”
