The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced its plan to release the results of 379,000 candidates on Wednesday. These candidates participated in the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) which took place between Friday and Monday.

JAMB decided to reschedule the exam following widespread public outcry regarding “mass failure” during the initial UTME. This indicates the significant level of dissatisfaction and concern surrounding the original examination.

The board acknowledged “technical and human errors,” particularly in Lagos and South-East states. These errors “significantly affected candidates’ performance,” leading to the decision for a re-examination.

Out of the 1.9 million candidates who took this year’s UTME, over 1.5 million scored below 200 marks out of a possible 400. This “prompting widespread concern among stakeholders” about the integrity and fairness of the examination.

Following sustained public pressure, JAMB conducted an investigation into the “mass failure.” The investigation revealed “technical and human errors in its system,” leading to the admission of faults.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, publicly accepted responsibility for the errors last week. He even reportedly shed tears while announcing a resit for the affected candidates, indicating the gravity of the situation.

Speaking to The Punch on Monday, JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, confirmed that “the results of the rescheduled exams would be released on Wednesday.” This provides a specific timeline for the release of the re-examination results.

“The results of the candidates who took the rescheduled exam will be released on Wednesday,” Benjamin said, reiterating the information to ensure clarity.

Oloyede had previously disclosed that 379,997 candidates in Lagos and the five states of the South-East were affected by the UTME glitches. This specifies the number of candidates impacted and the regions most affected.

According to him, 206,610 candidates in 65 centres across Lagos and 173,387 in 92 centres in the South-East zone were affected. This further breaks down the number of affected candidates by region and examination centre.

Describing the situation as “sabotage,” Oloyede stated that “the affected candidates would start receiving text notifications for the rescheduled exam starting last Thursday.” This suggests a serious view of the errors and the communication method used for the re-examination.

Of the 1,955,069 results processed from the original UTME, only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above. An additional 7,658 candidates (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total number of top-tier scorers (300 and above) to 12,414 (0.63 per cent). These statistics highlight the low number of high-scoring candidates in the initial examination.

Meanwhile, 73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299, while 334,560 (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249. These figures provide a broader picture of the score distribution in the original UTME.

A total of 983,187 candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, “widely considered the minimum threshold for admission in many institutions.” Another 488,197 (24.97 per cent) scored between 140 and 159, 57,419 (2.94 per cent) between 120 and 139, 3,820 (0.20 per cent) between 100 and 119, and 2,031 (0.10 per cent) scored below 100. These detailed statistics further illustrate the significant number of candidates who scored below the expected admission benchmark.

Meanwhile, the South-East Caucus in the House of Representatives on Monday called for “the immediate resignation of JAMB Registrar” over what it described as a “catastrophic institutional failure” in the conduct of the 2025 UTME. This political reaction underscores the seriousness with which the issue is being treated.

The South-East lawmakers made this demand in a statement signed by Iduma Igariwey (PDP, Ebonyi). This identifies the specific political body and representative involved in the call for resignation.

They criticised poor communication, the short notice given for the rescheduled UTME, and scheduling conflicts with ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examinations. They stated that all these factors had caused “unnecessary trauma” for students and their families.

The caucus stated, “Last week, particularly on May 14, 2025, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made a shocking public admission that due to a ‘technical glitch’ at some examination centres during the 2025 UTME, approximately 379,997 out of 1.9 million candidates would be required to resit the exam.” This highlights the specific admission made by the JAMB Registrar and the scale of the issue.

“As a caucus, we are deeply concerned, as all five South-Eastern states we represent were directly affected by these so-called ‘score distortions.’” This emphasizes the direct impact on the region represented by the lawmakers.

“Over the past week, we have exercised restraint, hoping that JAMB would provide effective remedial measures to address what is clearly a catastrophic institutional failure—one that has severely shaken public trust and the confidence of students and their families nationwide.” This explains the caucus’s initial approach and their assessment of the situation’s impact.

The lawmakers called for “the immediate cancellation of the 2025 UTME” and the scheduling of a fresh examination. They suggested this new examination should preferably take place after the conclusion of the ongoing WAEC and NECO exams to avoid disadvantaging any student.

They also demanded “the suspension of key officials responsible for JAMB’s digital operations and logistics,” stating that “accountability must extend beyond public apologies.” This indicates their call for more concrete action and consequences.

“While we acknowledge Prof. Oloyede’s openness in admitting JAMB’s failures, we must state unequivocally that the remedial steps taken so far fall drastically short of our constituents’ expectations,” the statement added. This expresses their dissatisfaction with the measures implemented by JAMB.

“JAMB’s knee-jerk, fire-brigade approach has been anything but adequate. Students in the South-East—many of whom are currently writing their WAEC examinations—were given less than 48 hours’ notice to appear for the rescheduled UTME. Reports indicate that this notice was grossly inadequate, resulting in low turnout. In some cases, the rescheduled UTME clashed directly with ongoing WAEC papers, compounding the distress and confusion for students and their families.” This provides specific examples of the issues with the rescheduled examination process.

Citing Section 18(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates government to ensure equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels, the caucus argued that recent judicial pronouncements have made this provision an enforceable right for every Nigerian child. This grounds their argument in constitutional law.

“Sadly, for the thousands of students across the South-East, the flawed and tainted conduct of the 2025 UTME has effectively denied them that right to equal and adequate educational opportunities,” the lawmakers stated. This concludes their argument by highlighting the perceived denial of rights due to the examination issues.