Ola Akinwunmi
A widespread technical glitch and human error in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) prompted the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to invalidate results for 379,997 candidates, triggering tears and apologies from Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede and sharp rebukes from the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), which is now demanding his immediate resignation and compensation for the victims’ families.
JAMB announced on Wednesday that a combination of server failures and human mistakes led to the scrapping of results in 65 centres in Lagos and 92 centres across the five South-East states, affecting a total of 379,997 candidates.
Prof. Oloyede, speaking at an Abuja press conference, described the mishap as “a combination of human error and technology,” and disclosed plans for the affected students to retake the examination between May 16 and 18, 2025.
Visibly overwhelmed, Prof. Oloyede broke down in tears as he took full responsibility for “the negligence of staff” that precipitated the errors, stating, “We are sincerely sorry,” and pledging to ensure a transparent rerun for all affected candidates.
He emphasized his personal accountability, apologizing “for the trauma caused [to] the candidates,” and vowing to implement reforms to prevent a recurrence.
On Thursday, NANS released a scathing statement through its National Public Relations Officer, Samson Adeyemi, branding the error “a damning indictment of the institution’s incompetence” and linking the board’s negligence to the suicide of a student in Ikorodu, Lagos.
Adeyemi declared that “Prof. Ishaq Oloyede must resign without delay,” arguing that “leadership that presided over this disaster cannot continue to administer an examination body that holds the future of Nigerian students in its hands.”
Beyond resignation, NANS is demanding financial, psychological, and legal support for the bereaved family, as well as full transparency in the rescheduled UTME exercise for the 379,997 candidates.
Dr. Christian Okeke, a senior lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, described the registrar’s tears as “insufficient” and added his voice to calls for outright resignation, insisting that only “the exit of the Registrar” and the release of accurate results would “bring justice to the affected candidates.”
Social media has been awash with criticism, with many Nigerians dismissing the apology as “crocodile tears” and urging systemic reform to restore confidence in the national exam system.
JAMB has confirmed the new exam dates but has yet to detail the independent oversight mechanism that NANS and other stakeholders are demanding.
Meanwhile, NANS is calling on the federal government to launch a full investigation into JAMB’s processes and to implement enduring reforms that will “forestall future occurrences of such errors.
