River State Government To Backroll UTME Form fees for Indigenes and Non-indigenes

Rivers State Governor, Bar Nyesome Wike

Rivers State Governor,  Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has announced that the State Government will henceforth bankroll the form fees for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB) for all Indigenes and non-indigenes in the state.

Governor Wike said  that the gesture  of the Rivers State Government  will commence with the 2020 UTME to be conducted by JAMB.

Speaking during a Courtesy Visit by the Registrar of JAMB at the Government House Port Harcourt on Thursday,  Governor Wike said that the Rivers State Government is committed  to ensuring  that less privileged  students are not denied  the opportunity  to sit for the examination.

He said: "From 2020, UTME forms for Indigenes and non-indigenes will be paid for by the Rivers State Government.  It is important  for us to ensure that children  of the less privileged don't bear  this burden.

"This offer  is to ensure that no qualified  candidate is denied the opportunity  to write the UTME. For some parents,  the fee is nothing, but there are families that cannot afford the fees".

The Governor  also announced the allocation  of land at the Greater Port Harcourt City  to JAMB for the construction of their Zonal Office.

He also allocated  a block of offices to JAMB as their temporary office in Rivers State, following  the dilapidation  of the current office. He also donated  an operational vehicle  to JAMB in the State.

Registrar of JAMB,  Professor Ishaq Oloyede commended the Rivers State Governor for his commitment to the development of education,  especially  his abolition of fees for secondary and primary schools in the state.

He appealed to the Rivers State Governor to allocate a temporary  office to JAMB  for their daily operations  as the current office has totally degenerated.

He said that in view of the number  of candidates  writing UTME in the state, JAMB requires land to construct  a mega computer based  test centre in the  state.

"There are only 12 Computer Based Test centres in Rivers State.  This number  is grossly  inadequate.  We urge Your Excellency to allocate land for JAMB  to construct a mega computer based test Centre for at least 500 Candidates.

"You are the closest  governor  to JAMB. Rise and help us. Funding is no longer  our problem.  We retain N2billion annually from our Internally generated revenue "; he said.

Simeon Nwakaudu,
Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media.
27th June, 2019.