The House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to investigate the technical failure that led to the mass failure in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), following a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. Adewale Adebayo (Osun State).
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had released the 2025 UTME results on May 9, revealing a staggering failure rate — with over 78% of candidates scoring below 200 out of 400. The development sparked public outrage and concerns over the integrity of the examination process.
In a press briefing held in Abuja, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede admitted that the poor performance was largely caused by a technical error linked to faulty server updates in the Lagos and South-East zones. He disclosed that 379,997 candidates were affected due to upload disruptions during the first three days of the exam, which were traced to one of JAMB’s two technical service providers.
To address the issue, Prof. Oloyede announced that all affected candidates would be allowed to re-sit the exam between May 16 and 19, 2025.
Hon. Adebayo, while moving the motion on the House floor, emphasized the hardship faced by candidates and parents, many of whom traveled long distances only to receive inaccurate results. He called for a comprehensive investigation into the technical lapses and urged better systems to prevent a recurrence.
Hon. Sada Soli (Katsina) commended the JAMB Registrar for owning up to the error and demonstrating transparency. He also praised Oloyede’s contribution to reforming the board and improving its revenue generation.
However, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas said it would be left to the House committee conducting the investigation to determine whether JAMB’s leadership should be formally commended.
The motion was adopted unanimously via voice vote.
The House further urged the Federal Government to:
Establish Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres in every Local Government Area to improve access to examination facilities.
Direct JAMB to release the withheld results of candidates below 16 years old, whose scores had been suspended due to age-related policy issues.
The resolution marks a significant step in addressing the concerns of thousands of affected students and ensuring accountability in Nigeria’s examination system.
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