*Links mass failure to technical glitches, promises remedial measures
*Says glitches happened in 65 centres in Lagos and 92 centres in Owerri zone
*Blames it on carelessness, negligence, lack of concern exhibited by some agents
*Assures that affected centres will retake the examination
By Ngozi Nwankwo
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB has identified the sources of problems that led to mass failure in the just concluded 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, linking majority of them to server problems.
The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede who disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday said the problems were isolated within 24 hours of engaging some government agencies, such as, Nigeria Education and Research Development Council, NERDC, experts and professionals in resolving 2025 UTME complaints.
Explaining the problem, Oloyede said, “It happened in 65 centres in Lagos and 92 centres in Owerri zone. In these centres, the patch was not properly applied in some centre servers by the service provider and that failure disrupted the upload of the candidates’ responses within the first three or four days, as applicable to Lagos and Owerri zones.
“The 2025 UTME that could have been our finest yet, were it not for the carelessness, negligence, and lack of concern exhibited by the agents entrusted with this crucial yet straightforward function. Immediately we realised this, we summoned the Chief External Examiners of Lagos, Imo, Anambra, Oyo, Abia and Ebonyi, the six states affected. Fortunately, they all swiftly responded to join the group. We also invited Prof. Bashir Galadanchi, a leading expert in Computer Science; the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPSS), which was represented by a leading voice in public advocacy, Dr. (Mrs) Bukola Dosumu. A number of our vocal critics were also invited to the interaction such that we could jointly and sincerely examine the situation.
“Despite being able to identify the source of the problem and the affected centres, we are conscious of the painful damage it has inflicted on the reputation of JAMB. As Registrar of JAMB, I hold myself personally responsible, including for the negligence of the service provider, and I unreservedly apologise for it and the trauma that it has subjected affected Nigerians to, directly and indirectly.”
The registrar, therefore, regretted the setback the incident imposed on the board, reassuring the commitment of JAMB to emerging stronger in its core values of transparency, fairness, and equity.
“It is our culture to admit error because we know that in spite of the best of our efforts, we are human, we are not perfect,” he said.
The Registrar who identified that 157 centres had distortions, promised that those affected will retake the exam.
“No Problem without a Solution. We have decided that all the candidates affected in the 157 centres out of 882 centres will be contacted to retake their examinations starting from Friday, May 16, 2025.
“These candidates are to be contacted through text messages addressed to their registered phone numbers, their email addresses, their profiles and phone calls by JAMB. They are directed to reprint their Examination Slips for the rescheduled examination dates.
“While not oblivious of the fact that WAEC examinations are ongoing, we have contacted WAEC and in an unprecedented show of solidarity, the Council has graciously decided to as much as possible accommodate us within the WAEC time-slot. Any candidate with a clash of timetable, particularly for Agricultural Science on Friday, would be rescheduled. However, we have endeavored to ensure that no such exist. Most, if not all, such candidates are scheduled for Saturday. Fortunately, the prescribed texts for SSCE are also the prescribed texts for UTME apart from the reading text of the UTME, which carries just 10 marks in our Use of English test,” he said.
