The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has admitted that technical glitches significantly affected the performance of some candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), prompting the board to mandate a retake for nearly 380,000 students.
At a press briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday, JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, offered a heartfelt apology as he announced that 379,997 candidates in Lagos and the South-East region would resit the UTME.
“We take full responsibility for this unfortunate situation,” Oloyede said tearfully. “It is a deeply regrettable technical oversight, and we are committed to correcting it transparently and fairly.”
According to the Registrar, the issue stemmed from a service provider managing the examination infrastructure in Lagos and the South-East. The provider failed to update delivery servers after a system patch, leading to widespread data processing errors that went undetected before the results were released.
The glitch affected 65 centres in Lagos, impacting 206,610 candidates, and 92 centres in the South-East, involving 173,387 candidates.
JAMB has already begun reaching out to the affected candidates via SMS, email, and phone calls. They are expected to reprint their examination slips starting Thursday, May 15.
The rescheduled UTME will commence on Friday, May 16, 2025. Oloyede added that the board has worked closely with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to avoid any clash with its ongoing examination timetable.
“We remain committed to fairness, transparency, and equity,” Oloyede reassured. “Moving forward, we are implementing stricter safeguards to prevent a recurrence of this kind of error.”
Some of the stakeholders present at the briefing commended JAMB’s decision to publicly acknowledge the issue and take swift corrective measures.
“This level of transparency is commendable,” said one stakeholder. “It reinforces confidence in the examination process and the integrity of Nigeria’s education system.”
The announcement comes amid ongoing concern over this year’s UTME performance, where more than 75% of candidates scored below 200 out of 400—a benchmark often used for competitive university admissions.
With public scrutiny intensifying, JAMB’s move to rectify the technical lapse is being viewed as a critical step in maintaining the credibility of the nation’s tertiary entrance examination system.