No fewer than 501 visually impaired candidates are set to sit for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) at 11 designated centres across the country.
Chairman of the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), Prof. Emeritus Peter Okebukola, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during a press briefing.
Speaking ahead of the examination for visually impaired and other special needs candidates, he said the examination was scheduled to hold from April 28 to 29, with candidates being tested in 20 subjects.
“The candidates take the same test papers as their sighted counterparts. Standards are not lowered in any form,” he said.
Okebukola described the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, as a major advocate for equal access to higher education across Africa.
He further revealed that this year, 84 visually impaired candidates who possessed at least five O’Level credits in their SSCE would have their UTME registration fees refunded at the examination venue.
On the distribution of candidates and centre coordinators — many of whom are former Vice-Chancellors (VC), Okebukola said Lagos had the highest number of registered candidates (107), with Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, former VC of Lagos State University, as coordinator.
Kano follows with 91 candidates, coordinated by Prof. Muhammad Bello, former VC of Bayero University, Kano.
Other centres and their coordinators include:Abuja (41) – Prof. Sunday Ododo; and Ado-Ekiti (32), Prof. Rasheed Aderinoye.
He also highlighted that in 2024, approximately 70 per cent of JEOG candidates — including the visually impaired and albinos — secured admission into tertiary institutions such as universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
These candidates were admitted into courses including law, special education, computer science, medicine and surgery, various education disciplines, mass communication, civil engineering, pharmacy, nursing science, and business administration.
Institutions that offered admission include: Abdulkadir Kure University, Minna;Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; Abia State University, Uturu; and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
Others were, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko; Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna; Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo and Nile University, Abuja.
The other institutions included, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,University of Lagos; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; University of Ibadan University of Ilorin and many others across the country.
It will be recalled that in 2017, Oloyede, established the JEOG with Okebukola as chairman to oversee the fair and inclusive conduct of the UTME for visually impaired and special needs candidates.