The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has revealed that he briefly considered stepping down from his position following a major technical error that marred the integrity of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday during a meeting with chief external examiners, civil society organisations, and stakeholders in the tertiary education sector, Oloyede admitted the gravity of the mishap and the intense pressure that followed.
“When it happened, my first reaction was to resign,” he said. “But people advised me that the students would never forgive me—it would appear as though I abandoned them at such a critical moment.”
The 2025 UTME results, released on May 9, revealed a troubling performance trend: more than 78% of candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400 points. Amid growing public outcry, JAMB launched an internal review which uncovered a significant technical fault linked to one of its service providers.
According to Oloyede, a flawed server update during the first three days of the exam caused a failure in uploading candidates’ responses. The error, which went undetected until after the results were released, affected 379,997 candidates across 157 centres in Lagos and the South-East.
In response, JAMB swiftly organised a resit examination, which began on May 16 and extended beyond May 19, to ensure fairness and restore public confidence in the examination process.
Despite criticism, including allegations of ethnic bias and sabotage, Oloyede maintained that the Board remains committed to transparency, accountability, and upholding the credibility of its examinations.
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