By Gabriel Dike
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said 351,022 candidates have registered in the last two weeks for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Out of the figures, 92,196 candidates indicated interest to write the UTME Mock scheduled for March 16, 2023, while 258,826 candidates registered but opted out of the mock exams.
A breakdown of the statistics showed Lagos topped the chart with 51,533 candidates, followed by Kaduna 28,104, Federal Capital Territory 27,854, Rivers 19,313, Oyo 16,924, Nasarawa 16,117 and Ogun 15,487.
South East states that previously recorded high number of candidates trailed behind in the 2023 UTME, while northern states such as Kaduna, Nasarawa and Taraba recorded higher figures in the ongoing UTME registration.
The state registration statistics are Abia 1,800, Adamawa 4,723, Akwa Ibom 6,707, Anambra 4,943, Bauchi 3,627, Bayelsa 1,669, Benue 14,797, Borno 3, 767, Cross River 6, 971, Delta 8,146, Ebonyi 2,016, Edo 2,018, Ekiti 4,461, Enugu 4,758, Gombe 3,594, Imo 3,915, Jigawa 2,170, Kano 8,932, Katsina 4,132, Kebbi 3, 031,Kogi 11,341, Kwara 10,378. Others include Niger 9,833, Ondo 9,687, Osun 8,386, Plateau 10,385, Sokoto 1,435, Yobe 2,546 and Zamfara 1,260.
The board set different dates for UTME and Direct Entry (DE) candidates.
UTME candidates would register between January 14 and February 14, 2023, while DE candidates would register from February 20 to April 20, 2023, at JAMB Professional Registration Centres only.
Optional Mock examination would hold on Thursday, March 16, 2023 while the conduct of UTME is scheduled for Saturday, April 29 to Monday, May 12, 2023.