Some of the candidates who wrote the 2025 University Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are demanding a complete cancellation of the results.
They spoke to Daily Trust on Wednesday in their reactions to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s admittance to errors that affected candidates’ performance in the examination.
There had been outcries in different quarters over the poor performance in the results, wherein over 1.5 million candidates failed to score 200. While many had cited technical glitches in some of the centres, others had blamed poor time management and students’ preparation.
JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, broke down in tears as he apologised for the errors in the examination.
He said the unusual level of public concern and loud complaints on the results prompted the Board to do an immediate review of what happened, which ordinarily would have been done in June.
“I want to make it clear that our review and investigation reveal that there are grounds for the complaints about our 2025 UTME results, and this press conference is convened with a view to unveiling the bitter truth of our findings openly and objectively,” he said.
He said, “As part of our preparations for this year, we upgraded our system from form-based to the single-item-based examination, the latter of which is the international standard now. We simulated this system, streamlined our Autobot and Autotest systems, and still went ahead to develop our own JAMBTEST, a software innovated in-house by a small team led by own staff, Dubem.”
Oloyede revealed that the glitch was traced to a failure in the deployment of updated grading software by one of its service providers.
“The issue specifically impacted 65 centres in the Lagos zone, affecting 206,610 candidates, and 92 centres in Owerri zone, affecting over 173,387 candidates.
“I apologise for the trauma caused to the candidates and I take full responsibility for this.”
The board said a total of 379,997 candidates in the five states of the South-East and Lagos were affected by the glitches in the examination.
“206,610 in 65 centres were affected in Lagos and 92 centres in Owerri zone, comprising 173,387 candidates in the five states of the South-east were affected.”
He highlighted the JAMB’s robust quality assurance systems, including mock examinations, technical simulations, and deployment of oversight teams comprising university vice-chancellors, civil society representatives, software engineers and education experts.
Oloyede regretted that even the most stringent measures could not eliminate all risks.
He said, “This unfortunate incident represents significant self-harm to the integrity we’ve built over the years. But we remain committed to transparency, fairness, and equity. It is our culture to admit error and take responsibility.”
In response to public concern, he said the Board fast-tracked its typical post-exam audit, which was originally scheduled for June.
He added that the Board convened emergency meetings with stakeholders, including educators, psychometricians, and student associations, to isolate the issue and chart a remediation course.
“We apologise sincerely to the Nigerian students, parents, and schools affected. While this was not a case of sabotage, the oversight by one of our two service providers was inexcusable,” the registrar stated.
He explained that the affected candidates would be communicated through SMS by today so that they could reprint their slips for rescheduled examinations on Friday and Saturday.
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