May 15, 2025
By Ayinde Adeleke
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has admitted to a technical error that affected over 300,000 candidates who sat the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). According to JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, the glitch was caused by a failed patch meant to update examination servers in the region.
Speaking during a press conference, Oloyede expressed deep regret over the error, saying, “So, 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 majority of affected candidates are in Lagos State, with 206,610 candidates across 65 centres impacted. In total, 54.37% of candidates affected are in Lagos, while the remaining 45.63% are spread across Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu states in the South-East.
The glitch affected 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East, with a total of 380,000 candidates impacted (206,610 in Lagos and 173,387 in the South-East).
Oloyede also addressed concerns over low scores, stating that the UTME statistics are consistent with what has been obtainable over the years.
Over 1.9 million candidates sat this year’s UTME, with 1.5 million (78%) scoring less than 200 points out of the 400 obtainable points.
The JAMB Registrar noted that the trend of low scores is not new, citing previous years’ results.
For instance, in 2022, 78% of candidates scored below 200, and in 2021, only 803 candidates out of 1.3 million scored above 300.
JAMB has invited stakeholders to review the results after widespread concerns. Oloyede assured that the board is taking steps to address the issues and prevent future glitches.
