20th May, 2025
News desk
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to release the results of 379,000 candidates who participated in the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) between Friday and Monday. The decision follows public outcry over mass failure in the initial round of the 2025 UTME.
JAMB was compelled to reschedule the exam after acknowledging technical and human errors—particularly in Lagos and South-East states—that significantly undermined candidates’ performance. Of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for the original exam, over 1.5 million scored below 200 marks out of a possible 400, raising alarm among stakeholders and prompting calls for investigation.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, last week publicly accepted responsibility for the anomalies, emotionally addressing the situation while announcing a resit for affected candidates. JAMB spokesperson Dr. Fabian Benjamin confirmed that the results of the rescheduled exam would be released on Wednesday.
According to Oloyede, 379,997 candidates—206,610 in Lagos and 173,387 in South-East states—were impacted by what he described as “sabotage” during the original UTME. He added that candidates were notified of their rescheduled exams starting last Thursday.
Performance statistics from the original UTME reveal that only 0.24% (4,756 candidates) scored 320 and above. Another 0.39% (7,658 candidates) scored between 300 and 319, totaling 12,414 candidates (0.63%) who achieved 300 or more. In contrast, 50.29% of candidates (983,187) scored between 160 and 199—considered the minimum threshold for admission by many institutions. The remaining results paint a grim picture of underperformance across the board.
In response to the crisis, the South-East Caucus in the House of Representatives on Monday called for the immediate resignation of Prof. Oloyede, labelling the episode a “catastrophic institutional failure.” The lawmakers, led by Iduma Igariwey (PDP, Ebonyi), condemned poor communication, inadequate notice for the rescheduled UTME, and scheduling conflicts with the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which they said had caused “unnecessary trauma” to students.
The caucus further demanded the cancellation of the 2025 UTME and called for a fresh examination to be held after the conclusion of WAEC and NECO exams. They also urged the suspension of JAMB officials responsible for digital operations and logistics, insisting that accountability must extend beyond public apologies.
While acknowledging Oloyede’s public admission, the lawmakers criticized the board’s handling of the crisis, describing its response as “knee-jerk” and insufficient. They cited cases of low turnout in the rescheduled exams due to less than 48 hours’ notice, with some students forced to miss WAEC exams due to overlapping schedules.
Quoting Section 18(1) of the 1999 Constitution, the caucus emphasized the government’s responsibility to ensure equal educational opportunities, stating that the flawed conduct of the UTME had effectively denied thousands of students in the South-East that right.
