The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND has pledged to make budgetary provisions for the establishment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres in all 774 local government areas of the country, starting with the 2026 fiscal year.
The committee made this commitment during its oversight visit to monitor the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) at Aduvie International School, Jahi, Abuja, on Friday.
Muntari Dandutse (APC, Katsina South), Chairman of the committee, lamented the lack of computer-based testing (CBT) centres in many local governments, describing it as a major barrier to equal access to tertiary education.
“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,” Dandutse said.
Highlighting the situation in his own constituency, the senator noted, “I am from Katsina South Senatorial District where only two out of the eleven local government councils have ICT centres for UTME.”
He further stated that the Senate, in collaboration with the House of Representatives, would ensure that funding for these centres is included in the 2026 national budget to improve accessibility and ease the examination process for candidates nationwide.
UTME, conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is entirely computer-based, requiring candidates to sit for the exam in accredited ICT centres.
Speaking during the visit, JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, told lawmakers that while the board currently operates 880 ICT centres across the country, they are not evenly spread across all local government areas.
“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,” Benjamin explained.
“JAMB shall be happy if the committee facilitates budgetary provisions for establishment of ICT centres in local government councils across the country that are yet to have one.”
Benjamin also addressed concerns over system performance, assuring lawmakers that the existing platforms are designed to run efficiently without negatively impacting candidates’ experience or results.
The Senate committee, which included Senators Jibrin Isah (Kogi East) and Diket Plang (Plateau Central), also visited Government Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3, as part of its UTME monitoring. Senator Dandutse expressed satisfaction with the facilities and overall conduct of the exam at the centre.
