Deborah Akinyosoye
The House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to investigate the technical error that led to the mass failure of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Rep. Adewale Adebayo from Osun State.
JAMB released the results of candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME on May 9, revealing an unusually high rate of failure. Over 78% of candidates scored less than 200 points out of the maximum 400.
Following an early review, JAMB uncovered a major technical error. During a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Ishaq Oloyede, the JAMB Registrar, stated that the results of 379,997 candidates were affected due to server issues.
The registrar explained that faulty server updates in JAMB’s Lagos and South-East zones disrupted the upload of candidates’ responses during the first three days of the examination. He clarified that the error was caused by one of the board’s two technical service providers and went undetected before the initial release of the results.
To address the situation, Oloyede announced that all affected candidates would be given an opportunity to retake the examination between May 16 and May 19, 2025.
While moving the motion in plenary, Adebayo noted that many candidates and their families endured long-distance travels to examination centers, only to face unexpected failures. He called for an investigation into the technical lapses to prevent future occurrences.
Contributing to the motion, Sada Soli, a lawmaker from Katsina, commended the JAMB Registrar for his transparency in admitting the error and apologizing to Nigerians. He also acknowledged Oloyede’s role in improving the board’s revenue since his appointment.
However, Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House, stated that it would be left to the committee conducting the investigation to decide whether or not to officially commend the JAMB Registrar for his actions.
The motion was unanimously adopted through a voice vote.
The House further urged the Federal Government to: Establish Computer-Based Test (CBT) centers in all Local Government Areas (LGAs) across the country to ease access to examination centers.
Instruct JAMB to release the results of candidates under 16 years old, who had been previously withheld.