The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has disclosed that he briefly considered resigning following a major technical error that affected the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
The examination body released results on May 9, revealing that over 78% of candidates scored below 200 out of 400 points, sparking public concern.
An internal review uncovered a significant technical fault that compromised the results’ integrity. On May 14, Oloyede confirmed that 379,997 candidates across 157 centers in Lagos and the South-East were impacted. He explained that a flawed server update from one of JAMB’s technical service providers caused the system to fail in uploading candidates’ responses during the first three exam days. The error remained undetected until after results were published.
JAMB swiftly organized a resit examination, which commenced on May 16 and extended beyond May 19. Addressing stakeholders at a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, Oloyede responded to criticism and resignation calls, including allegations of ethnic bias and sabotage.
“When it happened, my first reaction is to resign. But people advised me that the students will never forgive me because it will look like you abandoned them at such a time,” Oloyede revealed during the gathering with chief external examiners, civil society organizations, and education sector stakeholders.