"It Was An Act Of Sabotage" - Mass Resit Ordered as JAMB Chief Cries Over UTME Glitches in South East and Lagos [VIDEO]

 

A visibly emotional Professor Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), broke down in tears on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja as he admitted to errors that marred the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The high-stakes exam, which determines candidates’ eligibility for entry into tertiary institutions across Nigeria, was plagued by technical issues in key regions, prompting the Board to schedule a fresh round of testing for nearly 380,000 candidates.

At the heart of the crisis were candidates in Lagos State and the five states that make up Nigeria’s South East geopolitical zone. According to Oloyede, a staggering 379,997 candidates will now be rescheduled to retake the UTME after what he described as a “sabotage” during the conduct of the exam. He confirmed that these candidates will begin receiving official notifications via text messages starting Thursday.

Fighting back tears, Oloyede issued an apology that struck a rare emotional chord in an otherwise administrative setting. “I apologise for the trauma caused the candidates,” he said during the press briefing, his voice cracking under the weight of the unfolding crisis. It was a moment that underscored the magnitude of the disruption and the human toll behind the statistics.

According to the Registrar, Lagos accounted for the highest number of affected candidates, with 206,610 students disrupted by system failures at 65 designated testing centers. Meanwhile, the Owerri examination zone, which covers the entire South East region—comprising Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States—reported disruptions across 92 centers, affecting a total of 173,387 candidates.

The UTME, administered annually by JAMB, serves as a national gateway to tertiary education and includes compulsory testing in the Use of English along with three other subjects chosen based on each candidate’s proposed course of study. Any disruption to its process is consequential, not just for the Board but also for the future prospects of thousands of young Nigerians seeking to further their education.

The Board, which has long prided itself on technological advancements and reforms under Oloyede’s leadership, now faces one of its most challenging credibility tests. Wednesday’s press conference offered little in the way of technical detail regarding the nature of the glitches, but the Registrar’s use of the term “sabotage” hints at internal or external interference beyond mere system malfunction.

For many candidates, the situation has fueled anxiety and frustration. Stories have already begun surfacing online of students who traveled great distances, only to be turned away due to malfunctioning systems or unexplained delays. Parents, too, are calling for accountability, demanding clearer communication and faster remedial action from the Board.

Despite the uproar, Oloyede maintained that the rescheduled exams will be conducted under stricter oversight and improved conditions to prevent a recurrence. He also reassured affected candidates that their rights and academic timelines will be preserved.

While the Board has not disclosed specific new dates for the rescheduled tests, its commitment to beginning text notifications on Thursday signals an intent to move swiftly. The UTME holds immense importance in Nigeria’s education pipeline, and the Board will be under pressure to restore confidence both in its systems and its leadership.

Stakeholders across the education sector are now watching closely, not just to see how JAMB handles the resits, but also to evaluate what systemic reforms will be implemented to prevent similar failures in the future. For now, the focus remains on damage control, recovery, and reassurance to the nearly 400,000 candidates whose futures hang in the balance.