Parents of the candidates affected by the human error which led to a glitch in the 2025 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME) have demanded the postponement of the planned resit, which begins today, till June 2025.
A post from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on its official X handle on Thursday stated, “…all the affected candidates will be contacted to reprint their examination slips towards retaking their examinations starting from 16th May, 2025 (today).”
One of the affected students posted on X the SMS he received after getting notification for the examination.
“You have been scheduled to sit the 2025 UTME Resit examination slated for Friday, May 16, 2025 by 12:00 pm. To know your centre, reprint your Examination slip by visiting.”
On Wednesday, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board admitted a technical error that affected over 300,000 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Speaking during a press conference, the JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, a professor, expressed deep regret over what he described as a disappointing setback in the exercise that had, until the glitch, been considered one of the most successful in recent years.
“So, 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,” he said.
Oloyede said the issue affected 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.
He said the glitch affected 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos State and 173,387 candidates in 92 centres across South East states.
While 54.37 per cent of candidates affected are in Lagos, the remaining 45.63 per cent are spread across Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu States.
Oloyede explained that the glitch was caused by a failed patch meant to update examination servers in the region.
He assured that the affected candidates could retake the examination between May 16 and May 18, 2025.
The National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria urged parents to cooperate with the examination body to ensure the success of the planned resit scheduled for students affected by the glitch.
The National President of NAPTAN, Haruna Danjuma, said this in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja.
He noted, “What happened is painful to all. The traumatic experience on the part of the candidates and all but the most important thing is that JAMB acknowledged its mistake and has announced the plan to reschedule the examination for all the affected candidates. Our plea is for parents to please cooperate with JAMB to ensure that this resit is a success.”
“Apples Bite Magazine” reports that over 1.9 million candidates sat this year’s UTME, of which 1.5mn scored less than 200 points out of the 400 obtainable points.
However, some candidates protested their low scores, insisting they performed better than their results showed. Other Nigerians on social media also criticised JAMB for what they described as a massive failure.
But Oloyede said the UTME statistics are consistent with what has been obtainable over the years.
Last year, 76 per cent of candidates who participated in the UTME scored less than 200 points.
According to JAMB, in 2022, 1.3mn candidates out of 1.7mn or 78 per cent, who took the 2022 UTME scored below 200.
In 2021, only 803 candidates out of 1.3 million –or 0.06 per cent– who sat the 2021 UTME scored above 300, Oloyede said at the time.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
