The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Wednesday acknowledged responsibility for the widespread failure experienced during the recently concluded 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede addressed the public during a press conference in response to the public outcry over the issue. He offered a sincere apology to all affected candidates. “I recognize three important expressions—please, thank you, and I am sorry. I kindly ask all candidates and those impacted by our system’s errors to accept this explanation as the truth without embellishment. Please, I apologize and take full responsibility, not just in words,” he stated.
To address the issue, JAMB announced that 379,997 candidates from six states—Lagos, Imo, Anambra, Oyo, Abia, and Ebonyi—will retake the 2025 UTME between May 16 and 18. The affected states include five in the South East and Lagos in the South West.
During the announcement, Oloyede, visibly emotional, attributed the failure to negligence by some JAMB staff. Candidates in 65 centers in Lagos and 92 centers in Owerri Zone will participate in the retake. He acknowledged public concerns and expressed commitment to learn from the mistake.
Oloyede thanked critics and the concerned public, emphasizing that indifference is the true opposite of love and engagement. He reflected on the significance of the day, noting that what should have been a celebration was marred by preventable errors.
Since the release of the 2025 UTME results on May 9th, there has been significant public outrage and complaints. In response, JAMB conducted an immediate review—earlier than planned—to uncover the facts. The investigation confirmed that there are valid reasons for the dissatisfaction, and the press conference was held to openly share these findings. Oloyede emphasized JAMB’s commitment to maintaining quality and transparency, acknowledging that human error played a role.
He expressed regret over the damage caused to JAMB’s reputation, taking personal responsibility for the issues, including negligence by a service provider. He apologized sincerely for the trauma inflicted on Nigerian candidates and assured that JAMB remains dedicated to transparency, fairness, and equity. Oloyede clarified that the problems resulted from one of two service providers uploading data improperly, not from system glitches or sabotage, and reassured the public that the organization is committed to learning from this setback.
JAMB announced via its verified X account that candidates affected by the recent exam issues will be contacted soon to reprint their slips and retake the UTME starting May 16, 2023. The problem was traced to a technical glitch at 157 of the 887 centers, which contributed to poor candidate performance.
Meanwhile, ASUU-UNN has threatened to sue JAMB over the widespread failure, which predominantly impacted candidates from the South East. ASUU alleges that the failure was deliberate to prevent students from the region from gaining admission, criticizing the disparity in scoring and admissions criteria across regions. The union called on South East governors to challenge what they see as an injustice and condemned the blanket failure of students from Nsukka’s secondary school, despite their academic excellence, arguing that the entire failure was unjustified and unfair.
Oyibo urged JAMB to swiftly review the results, warning that the widespread failure has become a national concern that could lead to protests if not addressed promptly.
Reacting to the situation, NAPTAN President Alhaji Haruna Danjuma praised JAMB for admitting errors, describing it as a positive step. He noted that NAPTAN had sent representatives to JAMB’s headquarters to assess the process and the number of affected candidates. Regarding concerns from some candidates blaming technical issues for poor performance, Danjuma stated that JAMB assured them that the number of students needing to retake the exam was determined through careful analysis.