Dissatisfied with the decision of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to withhold information about its top scorers in the recently released 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, results, an Abuja-based lawyer, Chief Chukwuma Nwachukwu, has invoked the Freedom of Information Act, FOI, against the examination body.
The legal practitioner, in a letter he forwarded to JAMB, requested to be furnished with names and scores of the 10 best candidates in the 2024 UTME, within seven days, in line with provisions of the FOI Act.
According to the Applicant, it was wrong for JAMB to withhold the requested information when it gave a breakdown of the performance of candidates that partook in the examination, on April 29.
Consequently, he specifically asked the Registrar General of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, to supply him with: “The names and scores of the 10 best students and their respective performances in the above examination.”
“The above application is made under the provisions of Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act,
2011 which provides that.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in any other Act, law or regulation, the right of any person co access or request information, whether or not contained in any written form, which is in the possession of any public official, agency or institution howsoever described or established.
“An Applicant under this Act needs not demonstrate any specific interest in the information being applied for.
“Any person entitled to the right to information under this Act, shall have the right to institute proceedings in the Court to compel any public institution to comply with the provisions of this Act.
“Take Notice that the aforesaid law further provides that I should receive the information applied for within 7 days.
“Necessary Fees regarding this application shall be paid,” the letter further read.
It will be recalled that JAMB had in the results of the UTME it announced to the public, disclosed that barely a quarter of the total candidates scored above 200.
Statistics released by the body showed that out of 1,904,189 candidates that sat for the exams, 1,402,490 (73.7%) of the students scored below 200.
The statistics also showed that results of 64,624 candidates were withheld.
More so, he disclosed that there was equally a 36.2% increase in the enrollment of Persons Living With Disabilities, PLWDs.