The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), said a total of 1,837,011 candidates were successfully captured in the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) registration exercise.

The figure above is the total number of candidates registered in 2021, when over 1,338,687 candidates were registered for the annual matriculation examination.

The exercise, which commenced nationwide on February 19, ended on Saturday, 26th March,  2022.

The Board in its latest weekly bulletin released on Monday, said with N4,700 registration fee paid by the applicants, it successfully generated an estimated revenue of a total of N8.6 billion.

The Board disclosed that it has paid over N238,105,700 to Computer Based Test (CBT) centres as a fifth week service charge in the registration process.

Out of the lump sum, a total of 776 computer-based test centres that took part in the exercise will share an estimated amount of N1.3 billion at the rate of N700 per candidate registered by each of the centres.

JAMB has also pledged support for the CBT centre owners over the sudden increase in the prices of diesel and the erratic power supply suffered nationwide recently.

The examination body said it recognised the plight of its partners, and appealed for their understanding, saying it would seek necessary approvals to grant them the necessary support as may be deemed appropriate.

According to the examination body, an estimated figure of 1.5 million candidates had been targeted for registration during the exercise with an estimated 50,000 candidates per day.

During a tour of the CBT centres during the registration, the JAMB registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said based on the body’s calculation, about 1.5 million candidates were being expected to complete their registration at the end of the exercise.

Speaking at the weekend, JAMB’s Head of Media and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin, said the figure of the registered candidates had exceeded the body’s expectation.

He said unlike in the past when the adoption of the National Identification Number (NIN) as a mandatory condition for applicants had constituted a challenge to the system, there had been little or no complaints in the just concluded exercise.

Benjamin commended the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), for a seamless exercise, even as he called for more synergy with the organisation and other relevant agencies.

JAMB had also refunded some candidates, who were unable to complete their registration in 2021, but had paid the registration fee.