THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Monday announced that it has released 15,490 results of candidates that were withheld over allegation of examination malpractices in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

When JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede announced the release of the UTME in May, he said a total of 34,120 results of candidates suspected to have engaged in various forms of examination malpractices were withheld.

But in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the Spokesperson of the examination board, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB said the release of the results followed the expert review of the cases of this category of candidates who were requested to upload certain credentials for scrutiny.

“The board probed the identity and involvement of some candidates who were suspected of being involved in one examination infraction or another, the Board has further cleared and released the results of 15,490 candidates in this category,” he said.

He explained that the category of candidates with suspected infractions were further classified into five groups, adding that the first category involves those who have sufficiently proved their innocence.

Fabian said the second category includes those with inconclusive evidence of culpability and were given the benefit of the doubt because of the guiding principles of the Board that it is better for many criminals to go free than to punish one innocent candidate.

”Consequently, the results of categories (i)and (ii) were part of the 15,490 released on Saturday, 8th June 2019. They are to send RESULT to 55019 for their result,” he said.

He said category three includes those whose evidence necessitated further interrogation

”The third categories have been notified and invited (through phone call, their profile, text message and email) to designated centres across the country for further clarification of the evidence against them. It is in their interest to attend otherwise the evidence will be taken as conclusive,” he said.

”For category four, those whose culpability has been firmly established thus necessitating the cancellation of their results.”

Fabian disclosed that a total of additional 321 results were conclusively cancelled while the concerned candidates have been notified.

He said candidates in the fifth category are those who did not heed the advice to upload evidence of their identity vis-a-vis the other impersonators.

According to him, there is incontrovertible evidence of their culpability, just as he added that four additional CBT centres found culpable have also been de-listed.