UTME: Senate mulls budgetary provision to create CBT centres in all LGAs by 2026

The senate says budgetary provisions will be made in the 2026 fiscal year for the establishment of computer-based testing (CBT) centres across all 774 LGAs in the country.

Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, chairman of the senate committee on tertiary institutions and TETFUND, spoke on Friday during the monitoring of the ongoing unified tertiary matriculation examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) at Aduvie International School, Jahi, Abuja.

Dandutse, the senator representing Katsina south, expressed concern over the absence of CBT centres in many LGAs across the country.

He said CBT centres are crucial to the success of the UTME, noting that creating equal access to such centres will help bridge the education gap, especially for candidates in remote areas.

“In making it easy for candidates seeking admissions into universities or other tertiary institutions through UTME, the ICT centres must be made available in all the 774 local government councils across the country,” he said.

“I am from Katsina south senatorial district where only two out of the 11 local government councils have ICT centres for UTME.

“Since the examination is computer-based, centres for it need to be made available across the 774 local government councils in the country.

“In doing this, this committee of the senate, in collaboration with our colleagues in the house of representatives, shall facilitate budgetary provisions for it in the 2026 fiscal year.”

Fabian Benjamin, spokesperson of JAMB, told the committee that the board currently operates 880 CBT centres nationwide.

Benjamin confirmed that the existing centres do not cover all the 774 LGAs.

“JAMB presently has close to 900 ICT centres across the country, and in fact precisely 880 centres which, however, do not cover all the 774 local government councils across the country,” he said.

“JAMB shall be happy if the committee facilitates budgetary provisions for the establishment of ICT centres in local government councils across the country that are yet to have one.”

Benjamin also dismissed concerns raised by lawmakers over system failures, adding that the infrastructure is reliable and would not disrupt candidates’ performance.

The senate team also visited Government Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3, as part of its oversight function.

At the centre, Dandutse expressed satisfaction with the facilities put in place by JAMB for the conduct of the UTME.

The delegation included Jibrin Isah, senator representing Kogi east and Diket Plang, Plateau central senator.

Two weeks ago, JAMB released the results of the 2025 mock UTME. The exam was held on April 10, although marred by protracted delays and logistic lapses.

Benjamin said the challenges were anticipated due to the implementation of new features designed to improve the overall conduct of the main UTME.