By Funmilayo Adeyemi and Veronica Dariya
The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, broke down yesterday as he apologised for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination errors.
Oloyede, during a news conference in Bwari yesterday, took responsibility for the errors in the just-concluded examinations.
He assured that the 379,997 affected candidates would be notified through Short Message Service (SMS) by Thursday so that they could reprint their slips for the rescheduled examinations on Friday and Saturday.
Oloyede revealed that the glitches, which caused widespread outrage and confusion among candidates and stakeholders, were traced to a failure by one of JAMB’s service providers to deploy updated grading software.
“The issue specifically impacted 65 centres in the Lagos Zone, affecting 206,610 candidates and 92 centres in the Owerri Zone, affecting over 173,387 candidates. I apologise for the trauma caused to the candidates and take full responsibility for this,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that of the 1.9 million candidates who sat the UTME, over 1.5 million reportedly scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks.
The Board said that 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above.
Also, 7,658 candidates (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63 per cent).
73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299, while 334,560 candidates (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249.
Nine hundred eighty-three thousand one hundred eighty-seven candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, which is widely regarded as the minimum admissions threshold in many institutions.
In the same vein, 488,197 candidates (24.97 per cent) scored between 140 and 159, 57,419 candidates (2.94 per cent) scored between 120 and 139, 3,820 candidates (0.20 per cent) scored between 100 and 119, and 2,031 candidates (0.10 per cent) scored below 100.
Oloyede admitted that one or two errors were made during the 2025 UTME after the investigations.
The Registrar also highlighted JAMB’s robust quality assurance systems, which include mock exams, technical simulations, and deployment of oversight teams comprising university vice-chancellors, civil society representatives, software engineers, and education experts.
However, he acknowledged that even the most stringent measures cannot eliminate all risks.
“This unfortunate incident represents significant self-harm to the integrity we’ve built over the years. But we remain committed to transparency, fairness, and equity. It is our culture to admit error and take responsibility.”
In response to public concern, he said the Board fast-tracked its typical post-exam audit, which was initially scheduled for June.
According to him, the Board convened emergency meetings with stakeholders, including educators, psychometricians, and student associations, to isolate the issue and chart a remediation course.
“We sincerely apologise to the affected Nigerian students, parents, and schools. While this was not a case of sabotage, the oversight by one of our two service providers was inexcusable,” the Registrar stated.
He added that the 2025 UTME recorded the highest individual score in the last 15 years, with a 374 highest score.
He said this indicated improvements from previous years, noting that overall performance still aligned with historical trends. Some early reports of widespread failure stemmed largely from the glitch in affected zones.
