Prof. Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially acknowledged that technical and human errors adversely affected the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), leading to widespread candidate dissatisfaction and an unprecedented number of low scores.
During a press briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede expressed deep regret over the situation, stating, “What should have been a moment of joy has been marred by one or two errors.”
In response to the issues, JAMB announced that approximately 379,997 candidates across 157 examination centres will retake the UTME starting Friday, May 16, 2025. The affected centres are primarily located in Lagos State and the South-East region, including Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Anambra states.
Prof. Oloyede, visibly emotional during the announcement, took full responsibility for the errors, attributing them to a combination of human oversight and technical glitches.
He assured that affected candidates would receive notifications regarding their rescheduled examinations.
The 2025 UTME saw over 1.9 million candidates participate, with more than 75% scoring below 200 out of a possible 400 marks. Specifically, only 0.63% of candidates scored 300 and above, while a significant portion, 50.29%, scored between 160 and 199.
JAMB has pledged to implement corrective measures to prevent future occurrences and is engaging stakeholders to review and improve the examination process.
Candidates are advised to stay informed through official JAMB communication channels for updates on the rescheduled examinations.
