The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the circumstances surrounding the 2025 JAMB results
The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Basic Examination to investigate the circumstances surrounding the 2025 UTME results and report its findings within four weeks.
It urged the federal government to direct the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board, JAMB, to release all the results of those under sixteen age who participated in the 2025 UTME.
Parliament Reports recalls that the release of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results on May 9, 2025 by JAMB has sparked widespread confusion, outrage, and controversy across the country. The situation has been marked by technical errors, mass failure, and a wave of protests from candidates and parents.
JAMB officially admitted to errors that affected the performance of students in the exam. The Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, acknowledged during a press briefing that what should have been a celebratory moment for candidates was marred by technical errors. He stated that the results of 379,997 candidates were affected due to server issues.
The registrar explained that faulty server updates in JAMB’s Lagos and south-east zones disrupted the upload of candidates’ responses during the first three days of the examination. He clarified that the error was caused by one of the board’s two technical service providers and went undetected before the initial release of the results.
To address the situation, Oloyede announced that all affected candidates would be given an opportunity to retake the examination between May 16 and May 19, 2025.
Adopting the motion of urgent importance moved by Rep. Morufu Adewale (PDP Osun), on Thursday, the House also urged the Federal Government to ensure the establishment of Computer Based Test, CBT, centres across the 774 local Governments across the country.
The House mandated its Committee on Appropriations to capture the establishment of CBT Centres in 774 in the next year’s Budget.
Adewale, in his presentation explained that UTME, is a crucial examination that plays a significant role in the admission process across all tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
He expressed concern over what he described as the “worst performance in nearly a decade,” citing official statistics that show 78.1percent of 2025 candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks.
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“This is Nigeria’s poorest UTME performance since 2016,” he said. “The worst performance over a two-year period occurred in 2021, when 87.2% of the candidates scored below 200 marks. The second worst performance occurred in 2020, when 79.2% of the candidates scored below 281,” Rep. Adewale added
Adewale lamented that many candidates were forced to travel long distances to access CBT centres, exposing them to psychological stress, road accidents, kidnappings, and other security threats. He cited a tragic incident involving students from Oyo state who lost their lives while traveling for the UTME.
Adding to the debate Rep. Ogunbanwo Olufemi (APC Ogun), called for a thorough investigation into the factors behind the mass failure and operational lapses. He questioned why some exams were scheduled as early as 6:30 am despite security concerns.
He also urged JAMB to release the results of candidates under 16 years old, in compliance with an earlier House resolution suspending the policy barring such candidates from admission.
“It is not just a technical failure, it is a national emergency with serious implications for education, youth morale, and national security.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Rep. Sada Soli (APC Katsina), applauded JAMB Registrar, Oloyede, for his candid acknowledgment of the board’s shortcomings. He commended the Registrar’s transparency and highlighted that reforms introduced under his leadership had substantially enhanced JAMB’s credibility and increased its annual revenue from N1–2 billion to over N17 billion.
He also lauded the registrar’s effort during the 2023 JAMB manipulation of results by Mmesoma Ejikeme.
Ruling on the motion it was referred to the House committees on Basic Education and Examination, Digital and information technology.
