Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has firmly dismissed claims of ethnic sabotage related to the technical errors that impacted the results of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The examination results were released on May 9, revealing that over 78 percent of candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400 points.
In a statement, Oloyede explained that JAMB’s preliminary review, initiated in response to public protests, identified a significant “technical error.” Specifically, the issue affected the results of 379,997 candidates at 157 centers across Lagos and the South-East zones due to faulty server updates that prevented the upload of candidate responses during the initial three days of the exam. This problem, stemming from one of JAMB’s technical service providers, went unnoticed prior to the results being published.
In light of the situation, JAMB organized a resit examination, which took place from May 16 to May 19 to allow affected candidates to retake the test.
During a meeting with chief external examiners, civil society organizations, and stakeholders in Abuja, Oloyede addressed calls for his resignation and accusations that the technical failures represented an ethnic conspiracy. He stated, “I’m not interested in the ethnic identity of those who committed the mistake. As far as I’m concerned and to the best of my knowledge, there was no sabotage. There was no glitch. What happened was a human error committed by certain individuals.”
Oloyede underscored that the focus should be on rectifying the mistake rather than attributing it to ethnic backgrounds. “What matters is that they are diligent workers for the service providers. They committed a mistake, and we rectified it. I’ve accepted the mistake on behalf of everybody,” he emphasized.
The House of Representatives has initiated an investigation into JAMB regarding the technical error, with the South-East caucus in the House previously demanding Oloyede’s resignation and the cancellation of the 2025 UTME to conduct fresh examinations due to the disproportionate impact on candidates from their region.