Abuja, Nigeria — The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) don announce say dem go release results for 379,000 candidates wey take the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on Wednesday. Dis resit take place between Friday and Monday after people shout over dem serious mass failure during di first exam.
JAMB admit say technical and human errors, especially for Lagos and South-East, affect candidates’ performance. Dis year, out of 1.9 million candidates wey sit for UTME, over 1.5 million score below 200 out of 400 marks, and dis don raise plenty concern from stakeholders.
JAMB sabi sey dem need to react after dem notice di mass failure, wey show technical and human errors fit cause issue for di system. Di Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, don accept blame last week, even shed tears while e dey announce di resit for di candidates wey suffer because of di errors. Speaking to The PUNCH, JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, confirm sey di results from di rescheduled exams go drop on Wednesday.
“Di results of di candidates wey take di rescheduled exam go be available on Wednesday,” Benjamin talk. Oloyede don earlier talk sey 379,997 candidates fall for di wahala, wey include 206,610 candidates for 65 centres in Lagos and 173,387 for 92 centres for di South-East.
Oloyede describe di situation as “sabotage” and sey di candidates go start to receive SMS notifications about di rescheduled exam from last Thursday. From di original UTME result, only 4,756 candidates (0.24 percent) score 320 and above. Another 7,658 candidates (0.39 percent) score between 300 and 319, bringing di total number of candidates wey score 300 and above to 12,414 (0.63 percent).
Meanwhile, 73,441 candidates (3.76 percent) score between 250 and 299, while 334,560 (17.11 percent) score between 200 and 249. Over 983,187 candidates (50.29 percent) score between 160 and 199, which na di minimum score many institutions dey require. Further breakdown include 488,197 (24.97 percent) wey secure between 140 and 159, 57,419 (2.94 percent) between 120 and 139, 3,820 (0.20 percent) between 100 and 119, and 2,031 (0.10 percent) wey score below 100.
With dis statistics, over 75 percent of di candidates scored below 200 in di exam wey get maximum score of 400, and dis dey bring serious discussion about di credibility and fairness of di testing process. Di South-East Caucus for di House of Representatives don call for JAMB Registrar make e resign over wetin dem call “catastrophic institutional failure” for how dem run di 2025 UTME.
Di lawmakers, led by Iduma Igariwey from PDP, Ebonyi state, don knock di board for poor communication and di short notice wey dem give for di rescheduled UTME, and also di clash with ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), saying e don cause “unnecessary trauma” for students and dia families.
Di caucus state, “As we dey observe, we dey very concerned about di wetin happen, especially after Prof. Oloyede make public admission sey technical glitch cause di issues. Di five states wey we represent for South-East don suffer from di score distortions.”
Dem call for make di 2025 UTME cancel entirely and schedule fresh exam after di WASSCE and NECO, to make sure students no go dey disadvantaged. Also, dem want di suspension of key people wey dey handle JAMB’s digital operations and logistics, insisting sey accountability no just fit end with public apologies.
“Even though we appreciate Prof. Oloyede for his honesty, di steps wey dem take so far no dey meet di expectations of di people wey we represent. Di fire-brigade approach from JAMB no dey adequate. Students for di South-East wey dey write WASSCE wey get less than 48 hours notice to take rescheduled UTME, report sey di notice no enough, leading to low turnout,” di statement talk.
“Some students even face clash with di ongoing WASSCE exams, add to di confusion for dem and dia families.” Di caucus cite Section 18(1) of di 1999 Constitution wey make government ensure educational opportunities dey equal for all levels, arguing sey dis recent judicial decisions make dis right enforceable for every Nigerian child.
“Sad enough, di conduct of di 2025 UTME don deny thousands of students for di South-East dis right wey dem suppose get to equal and adequate educational opportunities,” di lawmakers conclude.
Do you have a news tip for NNN? Please email us at editor@nnn.ng
