Mixed reactions have continued to trail the admittance of error in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Is-haq Oloyede, JAMB registrar, at a press conference on Wednesday admitted to the error, saying “I appeal to the candidates and those affected by the error of our system to accept this explanation as the truth of the matter without embellishment, please. I apologise and take full responsibility, not just in words.”
The board disclosed that 379,997 candidates in 157 centres across five South East states (Imo, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, and Ebonyi) and Lagos were affected by the glitch.
The glitch affected 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos State and 173,387 candidates in 92 centres across South East states.
JAMB had earlier released the statistical analysis of the 2025 UTME, stating that 1.5 million, or 78 percent, scored less than 200 out of 400 in the examination. This elicited protests from candidates and parents which prompted the review of the examination.
Read also: Full text of JAMB Registrar, Oloyede’s explanation of UTME result error
However, the admittance of error by Oloyede has elicited a series of reactions from Nigerians. Some demand for the immediate resignation of the registrar for gross incompetence, while the radical ones reiterated the call to scrap JAMB.
The development has also ignited tribal sentiment on social media as critics question the involvement of the five South East states in the glitch.
See some reactions below.
“Kudos to all those who activated their active citizenship and spoke loudly on the nonsense happening at JAMB. The institution was almost running away with it without the courageous efforts of incredible Nigerians,” Seun Onigbinde, the co-founder of BudgIT, said on his X account on Thursday. “Professor Oloyede should step aside and a total audit on the exams should be conducted.”
“This is a country of really dangerous public officials; while @JAMBHQ registrar is here forming, he “regrets” the monumental disaster he superintended upon that has claimed a young life, and instead of resigning immediately, he brought to the same press conference a bunch of callous yesmen to clap for him. #ScrapJAMB Sack the incompetent Prof. Oloyede Now! #RevolutionNow,” Omoyele Sowore, a former presidential candidate, said.
“This is really very unfortunate. Since 2015, I repeatedly said my number one pick for the Minister of Education role is Prof Oloyede. Now, I believe he has done his time in a top job and he should resign. We will still celebrate him and parrot his successes for decades,” Dipo Awojide said.
Alli-Balogun H.Lekan, a social commentator, said, “JAMB’s 2025 UTME glitches are highly regrettable, condemnable, and frankly, unforgivable. The disappointment and frustration felt by students and parents are real and must not be ignored.
“Technology glitches are, unfortunately, part of software systems. Earlier this year, specifically on March 8–9, the SAT’s 2025 timer crash disrupted thousands of candidates. While these issues are not unique to JAMB, they remain deeply impactful for those affected.
“However, what truly matters is JAMB’s transparency in acknowledging the problems, its openness to external review, and its commitment to resolving the issues. This level of accountability is a step in the right direction.
“That said, injecting ethnic sentiments into technical glitches is sheer folly. Not everything should be viewed through the lens of ethnicity. The focus should be on addressing the problem and ensuring that such disruptions do not happen again.”
