In a fierce backlash against examination malpractices, the South-East caucus in Nigeria’s House of Representatives has called for the resignation of JAMB Registrar Ishaq Oloyede and the cancellation of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The demand, announced on May 19, 2025, in Enugu, follows widespread irregularities that marred the nationwide test, sparking protests among candidates.
The lawmakers, led by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, cited “gross technical errors” in the UTME, conducted in April 2025, affecting 1.5 million candidates. Over 78% scored below 200 out of 400, compared to 65% in 2024, per JAMB’s report, with 20,000 South-East candidates reporting result discrepancies. A JAMB investigation confirmed server glitches at 50% of 700 test centers, delaying results for 300,000 candidates. The caucus demanded a retest between July and August 2025, arguing that the errors undermined fairness, especially in the South-East, where 90% of candidates aim for competitive courses like medicine.
Oloyede, JAMB’s head since 2016, defended his tenure, noting 2024’s 99% result accuracy, but admitted 2025’s challenges, blaming cyberattacks traced to foreign IP addresses, affecting 15% of results. The lawmakers rejected this, citing Nigeria’s 60% tertiary admission shortfall, with only 600,000 of 2 million annual applicants admitted, per 2024 NUC data. They accused JAMB of neglecting infrastructure, with 70% of centers lacking backup servers. Education Minister Tahir Mamman promised a probe, with a 10-member panel set to report by June 2025.