The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, broke down in tears on Wednesday, May 14, as he publicly admitted to errors in the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Oloyede expressed deep regret over the issues that affected the performance of many candidates across the country.
In a visibly emotional state, the JAMB boss revealed that fresh exams have been scheduled for 379,997 candidates in Lagos State and the five South-East states due to the errors. He assured the public that the Board is taking full responsibility and remains committed to fairness and transparency.
“What should have been a moment of joy has been marred by one or two errors… I apologise and take full responsibility,” Oloyede said, vowing to emerge stronger from the setback.
He announced that affected candidates would begin receiving text messages with new exam details starting Thursday, May 15, 2025. However, he did not disclose the specific nature of the errors.
The admission comes just days after JAMB released the 2025 UTME results on May 5, which showed a concerning drop in performance. Over 1.5 million out of 1.9 million candidates scored below 200, while only 12,414 candidates scored 300 and above—representing less than one per cent of the total.
The results sparked outrage on social media, with students and parents demanding a review and some even initiating legal action against the Board.
