Thousands of candidates who participated in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), following widespread reports of technical glitches, incomplete questions, and questionable scores.
This legal challenge comes after JAMB released results last Friday, revealing that more than 1.5 million of the 1.9 million candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks. The outcome has sparked a national outcry, with many questioning the integrity of the testing process.
While the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, praised the results as a sign of successful anti-malpractice efforts, critics argue that system failures are to blame for the mass failure.
One of the loudest voices calling for accountability is Alex Onyia, education advocate and CEO of Educare, who announced on Sunday that legal proceedings would commence at the Federal High Court on Monday. He disclosed that over 8,000 candidates had filed formal complaints.
“Currently, we have 8,391 students who have sent in their complaints regarding the glitches in the JAMB 2025 exam,” Onyia wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) page, @winexv. “There is ample evidence to prove that JAMB’s system was inefficient, thereby causing serious harm to these students’ mental health.”
He demanded transparency from the examination body, calling on JAMB to release detailed mark sheets and allow candidates to independently verify their scores.
“The demand is for JAMB to show all the students their mark sheets—to view their results, what they failed, the correct answers, and a seamless way to dispute it. The destinies of these students are at stake,” he said.
Multiple candidates have also come forward to share their experiences. A candidate who took the exam at a CBT centre in Maitama, Abuja, said some of her Use of English questions were missing. “I raised the alarm, and I wasn’t the only one with the issue. When my result came out, I scored 170. JAMB has not addressed the missing questions.”
Another candidate who sat the exam on April 26 said she was shocked to see her score drop from 287 in 2024 to 173 this year. “Many others who wrote on the same day complained that their English questions were incomplete. This result is not mine.”
Parents have also joined the chorus of dissatisfaction. One parent said: “We demand a remark from JAMB. These are exceptional students scoring below 200. Many complained of incomplete questions and other technical issues. JAMB has said nothing. This cannot be swept under the rug.”
As of the time of filing this report, JAMB has not officially responded to the specific complaints. Multiple attempts to reach the Board’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, were unsuccessful.
With legal proceedings set to begin, all eyes are now on JAMB’s next move as pressure mounts for transparency and accountability.
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