The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has acknowledged they were flaws in the conduct of the just-concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) which

The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede who broke into tears while addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, apologised to affected candidates as he took responsibility for what he described as a “sabotage” of the 2025 UTME.

Oloyede lamented that “Today marks a moment we shall not soon forget, a day that should have been filled with celebration for what was, until recently, regarded as our most successful UTME exercise. Regrettably, this joy has been overshadowed by an easily avoidable error by one or two persons. I apologize for the trauma caused the candidates, I take full responsibility,” Oloyede said tearfully.

“Within 24 hours of rigorous work, we were able to isolate where the problem emanated from. 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.

“Once again, we apologise and assure you that this incident represents a significant setback for the Board’s reputation. We remain committed to emerging stronger in our 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.

“The only consolation we have in this case is that it is just one of the two service providers that did not do well by uploading improperly but it was not a case of glitches nor sabotage.

“By Tuesday morning, with the CEEs, the experts and Mr Osita Chidoka (a former Minister of Aviation) of Athena Centre, we selected samples of responses and reviewed. We compared the results and we are finding interesting correlations except in the 157 centers where distortions had occurred. We unanimously agreed that each state of the Federation be sampled. No sign of any abnormality so far has been detected in any centre outside the ones mentioned and the laborious exercise is ongoing.”

According to him, the 379,997 affected candidates in the five states of the South East and Lagos would be rescheduled for another exams to which they should ould start getting text messages from the Board from Thursday.

“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.

“I appeal to the candidates and those affected by the error of our system to accept this explanation as the truth of the matter without embellishment, PLEASE. I apologise and take full responsibility not just in words. We have vowed to uphold integrity as the abiding philosophy of JAMB and we won’t waver or depart from it despite the fact that we are not infallible. I am equally grateful to all stakeholders who have lent us their support and expertise in arriving at a logical conclusion that we have arrived at. And for the inconveniences, once again, on behalf of JAMB, I say, I AM SORRY to all Nigerians.”