The South East caucus in Nigeria’s House of Representatives has demanded the resignation of the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, and the cancellation of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as a result of technical glitches that affected some students during the examination.
In a statement by its leader, Igariwey Iduma Enwo, the caucus described the development as a catastrophic institutional failure, criticising the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for the technical glitches that affected nearly 380,000 candidates, including five southeastern states
The lawmakers maintained that the response by the board to the development has been grossly inadequate, citing poor communication, scheduling conflicts with ongoing Senior School Certificate Examinations, and the short notice given to candidates for the resit, saying the situation has caused unnecessary trauma for students and families.
While demanding the suspension of key officials responsible for JAMB’s digital operations and logistics, the caucus wants a new date fixed for the resit of the examination, which according to them, should be after the Senior School Certificate Examinations towards ensuring that no student is disadvantaged.
The caucus acknowledged Professor Oloyede’s public admission of the failure, but insisted that accountability must go beyond apologies, adding that his resignation would allow for a thorough, independent review of the failure and restore public confidence in the examination body.
