Human, Technology Errors, Not Sabotage Marred UTME

Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) yesterday admitted that some errors marred this year’s Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME).

It attributed this to a combination of human and technological hiccups.

The organisation ruled out sabotage.

JAMB Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede said the hitches were discovered after a review.

As a result, the board said 379,997 candidates in Lagos, Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia states would resit the examination.

This will take place from tomorrow.

Prof. Oloyede, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), shed tears before reporters in Abuja.

He said the affected candidates will receive Short Message Service (SMS) notifications.

He said: “It was a combination of human error and technology. We are sincerely sorry.

“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors.

“We apologise, sincerely, to Nigerian students, parents, and schools affected. While this was not a case of sabotage, the oversight by one of our two service providers was inexcusable.

“I apologise, I take full responsibility.”

Oloyede said despite the setback, a candidate recorded the highest individual score in the last 15 years with 374 marks.

He did not name the candidate but said the feat indicated improvements from previous years.

Oloyede added that it was regrettable that the technical hitches spotted before the release of the results were ‘’inadvertently not rectified’’ by officials of one of the board’s “service providers” in Lagos and the Southeast.

He explained that hitches were later traced to a failure in the deployment of updated grading software by the service provider’s officials.

The JAMB boss said the board was well aware of the damage done to its reputation by the current development and was prepared to make amends.

“In simple terms, while 65 centres (206,610 candidates) were affected in Lagos zone (comprising only Lagos State), 92 centres (173,387 candidates) were affected in Owerri zone, which comprises the Southeast states.

‘’In clear terms, in the process of rectifying the issue, the technical personnel deployed by the Service Provider for LAG (Lagos and Southeast zones ) inadvertently failed to update some of the delivery servers.

“Regrettably, this oversight went undetected prior to the release of the results.

“Despite being able to identify the source of the problem and the affected centres, we are conscious of the painful damage it has inflicted on the reputation of JAMB.

“As Registrar of JAMB, I hold myself personally responsible, including for the negligence of the service providers, and I unreservedly apologise for it and the trauma that it has subjected Nigerians to, directly and indirectly.

“Once again, we apologise and assure you that this incident represents a significant setback for the board’s reputation.

‘’We remain committed to emerging stronger in our core values of transparency, fairness, and equity.

‘’It is our culture to admit error because we know that despite the best of our efforts, we are human and we are not perfect.

‘’The only consolation we have in this case is that it is just one of the two service providers that did not do well by uploading.’’

He said in response to public outcry, the Board fast-tracked its typical post-exam audit, which was originally scheduled for next month.

According to him, JAMB convened emergency meetings with stakeholders, including educators, psychometricians, and student associations, to isolate the issue and chart a remediation course.

The UTME was conducted between April 24 to May 5 in over 700 computer-test centres.

The results, which were released on May 9, generated angry reactions, with many of the candidates faulting their scores.

According to statistical analysis released by JAMB, the performance of candidates in the 2025 UTME is Nigeria’s third-worst since 2016.

In the breakdown, out of the 1.9 million candidates, over 1.5 million(78.5 per cent) scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks.

About 334,560 candidates (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249, while 73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) had between 250 and 299 marks.

Those with 300 and above marks were 12,414 (0.63 per cent).

Only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above and 7,658 (0.39 per cent), 300 and 319.

A total of 983,187 candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, which is widely regarded as the minimum threshold for admissions 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 120.

Also, 139, 3,820 candidates (0.20 per cent) scored between 100 and 119, and 2,031 candidates (0.10 per cent) scored below 100.

The UTME, a prerequisite for admission into tertiary institutions, tests candidates in the Use of English and three other subjects on their proposed field of study.

Governor commends Oloyede, ASUU-UNN threatens to sue JAMB
Oloyede received commendation and a knock yesterday.

While Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal said he was impressed by Oloyede’s admission of error, the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) threatened to sue JAMB for the mass failure.

Speaking on national television, Lawal said the JAMB boss should be forgiven for owning up and giving some of the affected candidates another chance to resit the examination.

The governor said: “The whole UTME issue is just unfortunate. The whole thing was not intentional. When a leader admits an error, he should be forgiven.

“They (JAMB) are ready to give a second chance to students. They have owned up to their mistakes. The lesson is to guide against a future recurrence.”

But in Enugu, ASUU-UNN said the mass failure, especially in the Southeast, was unacceptable.

Chairman of the branch, Óyibo Eze, said the union would ‘’challenge this result in a High Court if JAMB fails to review it and give candidates their merited scores.’’