The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced it will release the results of 379,000 candidates who sat the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) between Friday and Monday. This resit was organised after widespread public outcry over a mass failure in the initial UTME held earlier this year.
Following the initial exam, which saw over 1.5 million of the 1.9 million candidates scoring below 200 marks out of a possible 400, concerns about the examination’s credibility grew. JAMB admitted to technical and human errors, particularly in Lagos and the South-East, which significantly affected candidate performance.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, publicly accepted responsibility for the errors last week, showing emotion as he announced the resit for the impacted candidates. Speaking to The PUNCH on Monday, JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, confirmed, “The results of the candidates who took the rescheduled exam will be released on Wednesday.”
According to Prof. Oloyede, approximately 379,997 candidates across Lagos and five South-Eastern states were affected by the initial glitches. This includes 206,610 candidates from 65 centres in Lagos and 173,387 candidates from 92 centres in the South-East zone.
Describing the situation as “sabotage,” Oloyede stated that affected candidates began receiving text notifications for the rescheduled exam starting last Thursday.
Detailed statistics from the original UTME results reveal that only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 marks and above, with a further 7,658 (0.39 per cent) scoring between 300 and 319. The total number of candidates scoring 300 and above amounted to 12,414 (0.63 per cent).
Meanwhile, 73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299, and 334,560 (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249. A substantial 983,187 candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, widely regarded as the minimum admission threshold for many institutions. The rest scored below these marks, raising national debate about the exam’s fairness and credibility.
In response to the UTME crisis, the South-East Caucus in the House of Representatives demanded the immediate resignation of the JAMB Registrar, describing the issue as a “catastrophic institutional failure.” The lawmakers criticised JAMB’s poor communication and the short notice given for the rescheduled exam, which clashed with ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), causing distress for students and their families.
A statement signed by Iduma Igariwey (PDP, Ebonyi) said, “Last week, particularly on May 14, 2025, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made a shocking public admission that due to a ‘technical glitch’ at some examination centres during the 2025 UTME, approximately 379,997 out of 1.9 million candidates would be required to resit the exam.”
The caucus expressed concern over the direct impact on the South-Eastern states and called for the cancellation of the entire 2025 UTME, proposing a fresh examination be scheduled after the conclusion of WAEC and NECO exams to avoid disadvantaging students.
They also called for the suspension of key JAMB officials responsible for digital operations and logistics, asserting that accountability must extend beyond public apologies. The statement emphasised that the remedial measures so far have been inadequate, especially as students received less than 48 hours’ notice for the resit, which coincided with other examinations.
Invoking Section 18(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees equal and adequate educational opportunities for all Nigerian children, the caucus stated that the flawed UTME process had denied thousands of students their constitutional rights.
The issue has stirred significant debate among education stakeholders, raising questions about the future of national examinations and the integrity of Nigeria’s admission processes.