THE REGISTRAR of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, publicly apologized on Wednesday for technical errors that disrupted the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), taking full responsibility for the incident.
During a press briefing in Bwari, Oloyede revealed that 379,997 candidates were affected by grading software failures traced to a service provider’s oversight.
The glitches primarily impacted 65 centres in Lagos (206,610 candidates) and 92 centres in Owerri (173,387 candidates).
Affected candidates will receive SMS notifications by Thursday, May 15, to reprint their slips for rescheduled exams on Friday and Saturday.
Performance Overview
Out of 1.9 million candidates who sat for the UTME:
0.24% (4,756) scored 320 and above
0.63% (12,414) scored 300 and above
3.76% (73,441) scored 250–299
17.11% (334,560) scored 200–249
50.29% (983,187) scored 160–199 (minimum admission threshold for many institutions)
24.97% (488,197) scored 140–159
2.94% (57,419) scored 120–139
0.30% (5,851) scored below 120
Despite the challenges, the 2025 UTME recorded the highest individual score (374) in 15 years.
Quality Assurance & Remediation
Oloyede emphasized JAMB’s rigorous pre-exam checks, including mock tests and oversight teams, but acknowledged that “even stringent measures cannot eliminate all risks.”
He assured stakeholders that the Board had accelerated its post-exam audit — originally slated for June — and held emergency meetings with educators, student groups, and technical experts to address the issue.
“This incident undermines the integrity we’ve built, but we remain committed to transparency and accountability,” he stated. “We sincerely apologize to candidates, parents, and institutions for the distress caused.”
JAMB has pledged to prevent future recurrences while maintaining its standards for fairness in Nigeria’s tertiary admission process. (NAN)
