Table of Contents

“Cancel 2025 UTME Now!” — Lawmaker Slams JAMB, Claims Integrity Is Lost

The 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) should be cancelled, according to House of Representatives member Iduma Igariwey, who cited a “catastrophic institutional failure” that jeopardized the process’s fairness and integrity.

Igariwey, who is also the head of the South-East Caucus in the House, stated in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) recent admission of error in the administration of the 2025 UTME was insufficient to support the continuation of the entrance exam.

He claims there has been a compromise in the integrity of the entire examination process.

“The integrity of the whole enterprise has been compromised. It is no longer fair. People who took the time and prepared for tests were no longer in a position to take those exams,” he said.

Our major message was that these tests just had to be completed correctly. Therefore, to ensure that the proper thing is done from the start, we are arguing that the exam must be canceled. Because we believe that JAMB cannot just come out and paper over an examination and say they have gone on with the exam.”

Igariwey emphasized that the decision to reschedule the tests within 48 hours was “unreasonable and poorly thought out” in response to JAMB’s assertion that a “technical glitch” and “human error” were to blame for the problems.

As you may remember, we exercised extreme restraint when making a choice. He remarked, “The caucus responded to what Professor Ishaq (Oloyode) told Nigerians on May 14th.”

About 400,000 students who completed examinations in April were invited to come retake them, which we have called a catastrophic institutional failure. He acknowledged this. In this nation’s history, that has never occurred. And Nigerians were probably taken aback by it.

“JAMB announced two days later, or the same day, or the following day, that pupils would need to return to class and retake the same tests 48 hours later. Now, those tests were carried out on May 16th,” Igariwey said.

He pointed out that reports from throughout the Southeast showed that the sudden rescheduling and logistical uncertainty prevented many candidates from reaching their assigned centers.

Each of us received reports from our different constituencies. Many pupils were unable to attend the exam rooms. Therefore, many people were unable to take such retake exams. And that was our biggest worry,” he said.

Therefore, JAMB cannot just assign new tests after two days. You haven’t even informed Nigerians that you have fixed the original issue. Investigations are being demanded. People are demanding an investigation into what transpired. And then you set those exams straight instantly again.”

“Students cannot have access,” he continued. They will either go or they will learn that it will be in the other center instead of this one again. Many folks choose not to take those tests.

Caucus Calls for Resignation and New Examination

The 10th House of Representatives’ South-East Caucus had earlier called for the cancellation of the 2025 UTME nationwide and the resignation of Oloyede, the JAMB Registrar.

Citing systemic failure and several technical flaws, the MPs called the examination’s conduct a “national shame” in a statement signed by caucus head Igariwey.

They demanded the suspension of personnel responsible for JAMB’s digital operations and logistics, emphasizing that leadership must bear penalties. “We urge Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of JAMB, to take the necessary action by resigning. In every civilized democracy, that’s the way to proceed,” the statement read.

The parliamentarians from the South-East sought complete accountability, claiming that the problem had a significant impact on all five of the region’s states. They cautioned that apologies were insufficient on their own and that confidence in JAMB had been damaged.

“We are human; we are not perfect,” Oloyede said in an apology and admission of mistakes made during the tests during a press conference on May 14.

In response to concerns of poor results and technological issues at 157 of 887 locations across the country, he confirmed that 379,997 impacted applicants would retake the test starting on May 16.

According to JAMB, just 12,414 out of 1.95 million candidates received a score of 300 or higher, while more than 78% received a score below 200.

In addition, the board verified approximately 71,000 absences and 97 malpractice cases.