Individuals seeking to get admitted to the Nigerian Open University of Nigeria and other open distance learning centres are now mandated to register via the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, report revealed.

The candidates are also expected to register with their unique National Identification Number.

This move, our correspondent learnt, was to checkmate nefarious activities. In an advisory released by JAMB and made available to our correspondent in Abuja, the Board promised to make the registration process as seamless as possible.

The advisory reads, “As part of measures to checkmate the nefarious activities of fraudulent characters, who are scheming to compromise candidates’ records through dubious registration channels and in compliance with its enabling act, JAMB has mandated that all applicants desirous of studying in Nigerian tertiary institutions must provide their NIN while registering for any programme of study in any tertiary institutions in Nigeria irrespective of whether the mode of study is regular and non-regular.

“Consequently, it has now become mandatory for all prospective candidates in the non regular category (NOUN, Distance Learning, Part-time and Sandwich programmes) to create a profile code, before registering with JAMB, by sending their NIN, through their unique phone number to either of the Board’s sort code (55019 or 66019).

Similarly, the advisory noted that all previous candidates in the non-regular programmes, who had not integrated their NIN or unique phone number on the Board’s platform, would have to create a profile using their respective NINs to access any of the services of the Board.

“JAMB, as a responsive organisation, will continue to make the registration process as flexible as possible by making its platform available throughout the year. It is, therefore, expected that candidates, who fall under this category, will apply through JAMB before approaching their preferred institutions to process their admission with their respective JAMB registration numbers. They would also be expected to pay their preferred institution a processing fee as determined by respective institutions.”