News Highlights:
- JAMB Orders Immediate Review of 2025 UTME
- Candidates Threaten Legal Action Amid Mass Failure
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has initiated an immediate review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following a surge of public outcry over alleged technical glitches, incomplete questions, and unusually low scores.
In a statement released by its Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB acknowledged receiving what it termed an “unusual volume of complaints” since the release of the UTME results last Friday.
The statement noted that this prompted the Board to accelerate its annual post-examination audit, a process typically conducted months after the test.
“We are especially concerned about the nature and consistency of the complaints emerging from specific states across the federation. A thorough investigation is underway to determine and address any technical anomalies,” the statement read.
Dr. Benjamin explained that the post-examination review spans the full UTME lifecycle—covering registration, examination conduct, and result processing. He assured that if any systemic flaws are identified, JAMB will implement corrective measures without delay.
To ensure a comprehensive and unbiased review, the Board has enlisted the support of independent experts, including members of the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria, chief external examiners (primarily heads of tertiary institutions), the Educational Assessment and Research Network in Africa, as well as measurement experts and vice chancellors from across the country.
“If it is established that technical errors affected the examination process, we will take appropriate remedial action, just as we would for any fault identified during the examination itself,” the statement added.
Candidates Consider Legal Action Over Alleged Irregularities
JAMB’s swift intervention comes amid rising tensions, with reports indicating that thousands of candidates are considering filing a class-action lawsuit over the alleged examination irregularities.
Several candidates reported experiencing technical malfunctions, such as disrupted question displays and system timeouts, which they believe contributed to their poor performance.
The controversy intensified after JAMB released a breakdown of this year’s UTME results, revealing that over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks. The statistic ignited national concern and sparked outrage across social media platforms.
The hashtag #ThisIsNotMyResult has since gone viral, with affected candidates and concerned parents voicing disbelief and demanding a thorough review of the examination process.
Government And JAMB Officials Respond
Responding to the growing unrest, Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, in an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, defended the results, and attributed the high failure rate to the effectiveness of JAMB’s computer-based testing system in curbing malpractice.
“The system has significantly reduced cheating and should be replicated in other national examinations such as WAEC and NECO,” the Minister asserted.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, also refuted claims that the 2025 UTME results were unusually poor, citing similar patterns in previous years.
Despite these reassurances, public pressure on the examination body continues to grow, with widespread calls for greater transparency and fairness in the examination, marking, and result collation processes.
