The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, on Monday, said its mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination would now hold on April 9, 2022 as against the earlier scheduled date of April 16, 2022.

The board said it made the decision upon the realisation that April 16 would be Easter Sunday.

The board added that as of February 26, 2022, no fewer than 236,206 candidates had registered for the 2022 examinations.

These were disclosed in the weekly bulletin of the board made available in Abuja on Monday.

The bulletin read in part, “The 2022 mock UTME is now to hold on Saturday, April 9, 2022, and not Saturday, April 16, 2022, as earlier scheduled.

“This change is owing to the realisation that April 16, 2022, earlier chosen, is Easter Saturday, a day celebrated by Christian faithful as a Holy Saturday that ends the Lenten season and falls on the day before Easter Sunday.

“It will be recalled that the board was to begin the registration for the 2022/23 UTME/DE on Saturday, February 12, 2022, but had to push the exercise to Saturday, February 19, 2022.

The one-week extension had similarly affected the date for the mock UTME, which also had to be rescheduled.

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“The board, as a responsive organisation, will at all times, continue to act in the best interest of Nigerians. Therefore, all candidates, who wish to register early so as to sit for the mock UTME, are to kindly note the change of date.”

The board also noted that 236,206 had registered as of February 26, 2022.

It also noted that 5,846 registered on the first day of the exercise.