The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commenced the rescheduling of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for 379,997 candidates who were affected by technical issues during the recently concluded exams.
The rescheduling exercise began on Thursday, following an announcement by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, during a press briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday.
Oloyede acknowledged that a total of 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos and 173,387 candidates from 92 centres in the South-East zone experienced disruptions that necessitated the rescheduling.
“I apologise, I take full responsibility,” Oloyede said, adding that affected candidates would begin receiving text messages with details of their new examination dates and venues.
One of the affected candidates has already been rescheduled to sit for the exam on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 12 noon. The new exam venue is located in the Igando area of Alimosho Local Government, Lagos State.
Meanwhile, the exam fiasco he has drawn the ire of many Nigerians, who not only queried the integrity of the examination but also threatened legal action against the registrar.
Already, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) branch of ASUU, has threatened to sue the examination body over the massive failure, which mostly affected candidates from the South-East, alleging that it was a deliberate attempt by JAMB to stop children from the zone from getting admission.
The Chairman of ASUU-UNN, Oyibo Eze, said the union would challenge the action in court.
“JAMB knows that children from the South-East must score higher before they can get admission, whereas their counterparts in some parts of the country will use a 120 score to get admission to read medicine in universities in their area.”
He called on governors in the region to rise against the injustice allegedly targeted towards preventing children from the zone from gaining admission into tertiary institutions.
The ASUU boss said it was unbelievable and unacceptable that in the whole University Secondary School, Nsukka, no candidate who sat for the exam scored up to 200.
But the Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, has called on Nigerians to forgive Oloyede following his admission of error.
This is as the governor expressed sadness over a candidate who tragically took her life, due to her low score.
Lawal, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today, emphasised that Oloyede’s acknowledgement of the mistake and willingness to offer a second chance demonstrate accountability and a commitment to rectifying the situation.
He urged Nigerians to forgive him and focus on finding solutions to prevent similar incidents in the future.
He said: “The recent incident involving a young lady who tragically took her own life due to a low JAMB score is deeply unfortunate. However, it is essential to acknowledge that errors can occur despite best intentions.
“Given that the JAMB Registrar has admitted to a system glitch and taken responsibility, I believe he deserves consideration and forgiveness. What is crucial is that the agency has acknowledged the mistake, confessed to it, and it’s willing to offer a second chance. By owning up to the error, Oloyede has demonstrated accountability,” Lawal stated.
