ICPC Commence Investigation Malpractices During UTME

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offenses Commission, ICPC, sets to begin thorough investigations into malpractices which allegedly took place during the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.

This revelation was made known by a member of Board of the commission, in the person of Mrs. Olubukola Balogun, during an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to her, ICPC is investigation allegations that some candidates aided by their parents and professional examiners engaged in malpractices.

She said:

“We have the mandate for investigation, prosecution and prevention.

“We are putting everything together for JAMB. I can assure you that we will get there.

“The commission is going to know what happened and how we can prevent it in the future”.

She went on to revealed that anyone found culpable of cheating during the UTME would be prosecuted, insisting that “those that err, after our investigation, we are going to prosecute’’.

Describing examination malpractice as “an act of corruption’’, the board member said that such activity would not be allowed to thrive in the country’s education system.

“There is a lot of corruption everywhere; therefore, we have to go back to the drawing board and we have to all come together for this fight against the scourge,” she said.

The news is coming few weeks after JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, at an event revealed the desperate measures done by some parents for their children during the exam.

“You will discover that such a candidate who goes to university with his or her picture is not the same as the one who wrote the UTME, neither was he nor she the one who wrote the WASSCE.

“So, what is going to happen is for us to find a way of ensuring more synergy between the assessment bodies and the institutions, in such a way that all sharp practices are nipped into the bud.

“We are also looking at building mega CBT centres for our examinations but this we cannot also achieve alone.

“We will also encourage genuine private investors who will now be the body that will accredit its own subgroups, just as we will also bring in the Computer Registration Council of Nigeria,” Oloyede said.