“I Didn’t Resign After Exam Error Because Students Would Feel Abandoned” – JAMB Registrar
The registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has revealed that he contemplated stepping down following the technical error that plagued the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), sparking national outrage and widespread concern.
The UTME results, released on May 9, painted a bleak picture: over 78% of candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400. The disappointing outcome triggered public protests and a swift investigation by JAMB, which uncovered a significant technical malfunction that compromised the integrity of the results.
Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, May 14, during a high-level meeting with chief external examiners, civil society organisations, and stakeholders from tertiary institutions, Oloyede disclosed that a technical failure affected the results of 379,997 candidates across 157 centres in Lagos and the South-East.
The glitch, he explained, stemmed from a faulty server update by one of JAMB’s technical service providers. It caused the candidates’ responses to fail to upload during the first three days of the examination—a problem that went undetected before the initial release of the results.
“I must confess, when the error was discovered, my first instinct was to resign,” Oloyede said. “But after consultations, I was advised not to—people told me the students would feel abandoned if I left at such a critical moment.”
In response to the discovery, JAMB swiftly organised a resit examination for the affected candidates, which began on May 16 and is expected to run past May 19.
Oloyede also addressed the wave of criticism and conspiracy theories that followed the exam crisis, including accusations of ethnic bias and deliberate sabotage. “The pressure from the media and the public was intense,” he admitted. “But our priority remains the integrity of the examination process and the students’ future.
