The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it will release the results of 379,000 candidates who sat for the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) between Friday and Monday. The results are expected on Wednesday, according to the board’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin.
The resit followed nationwide outrage over the unusually high failure rate recorded in the initial UTME. Over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks.
JAMB admitted to both technical and human errors, particularly in examination centres across Lagos and the South-East, which severely impacted candidate performance. The board’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, publicly took responsibility and emotionally announced a resit for 379,997 affected candidates—206,610 in 65 centres across Lagos and 173,387 in 92 centres across the South-East.
Describing the situation as “sabotage,” Oloyede said affected candidates were notified by SMS last Thursday for the rescheduled exam.
From the 1,955,069 UTME results processed, only 0.63 per cent of candidates scored 300 and above. Over 75 per cent scored below 200, raising concerns about the credibility of the exam.
The backlash intensified on Monday as the South-East Caucus in the House of Representatives demanded the immediate resignation of the JAMB Registrar. In a statement signed by Rep. Iduma Igariwey (PDP, Ebonyi), the lawmakers described the 2025 UTME as a “catastrophic institutional failure.”
The caucus criticised JAMB’s communication, short notice for the resit, and the overlap with the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which they said caused unnecessary trauma for students.
“The UTME glitches affected all five South-East states we represent,” the statement read. “Despite Prof. Oloyede’s openness, the response has fallen drastically short. JAMB’s fire-brigade approach has only worsened the situation.”
Citing Section 18(1) of the 1999 Constitution, the lawmakers argued that the flawed UTME violated students’ rights to equal educational opportunities. They called for the cancellation of the 2025 UTME, a fresh exam after WASSCE and NECO, and the suspension of JAMB officials responsible for digital operations and logistics.
The controversy continues to fuel national debate over the fairness and integrity of Nigeria’s university admission process.
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