Amidst significant disruptions and widespread reports of failure, the House of Representatives has initiated a comprehensive investigation into the technical issues that plagued 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.
Persecondnews reports that JAMB unveiled the 2025 UTME results on May 9, revealing alarming failure rates, as more than 78% of candidates scored under 200 marks out of a possible 400.
After conducting an early review, JAMB identified a significant technical error, and the Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who broke down in tears during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, announced that server problems had affected the results of 379,997 candidates.
Oloyede explained that faulty server updates in JAMB’s Lagos and South-East zones hindered the upload of candidates’ responses during the first three days of the exam, clarifying that the error, attributed to one of the board’s technical service providers, remained undetected prior to the initial result release.
To rectify the situation, Oloyede announced that affected candidates would be allowed to retake the examination from May 16 to 19, 2025.
While moving the motion during Thursday’s plenary, Adebayo pointed out that numerous candidates and their families had undertaken long journeys to exam centres, only to met with unexpected failures, and called for an investigation into the technical issues to avert similar situations in the future.
Contributing to the debate, Rep. Sada Soli, from Katsina, praised Oloyede for his transparency in admitting the error and offering an apology to Nigerians, while also commending his efforts in enhancing the board’s revenue generation since his appointment.
However, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas clarified that any commendation for the JAMB Registrar’s actions would be determined by the investigative committee.
The House unanimously adopted the motion through a voice vote.
It further resolved that the Federal Government should establish Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres in every local government area across the country to facilitate easier access to examination venues.
It also directed JAMB to release the previously withheld results of candidates under 16 years old.
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