The House of Representatives on Thursday agreed to investigate the technical error that led to mass failure in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The decision followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Adewale Adebayo, a lawmaker from Osun State.
According to JAMB’s result breakdown released on May 9, over 78% of candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400 points, sparking public outrage and calls for the resignation of JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede.
JAMB later acknowledged a “technical error” after an internal review. At a press conference on Wednesday, Oloyede took responsibility, revealing that 379,997 candidates were affected by server issues in the Lagos and South-East zones, which disrupted the upload of candidates’ answers during the exam’s first three days.
The error, linked to one of JAMB’s technical service providers, was not detected before the results were released. Oloyede announced that affected candidates will be allowed to retake the exam between May 16 and 19.
The issue has drawn widespread reactions on social media and in public discussions.
While presenting the motion, Adebayo noted the hardship many candidates faced, including long-distance travel to exam centres. In support, Sada Soli, a lawmaker from Katsina State, praised Oloyede for owning up to the error and apologising, describing him as a person of integrity who has also improved JAMB’s financial performance.
However, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas said the investigating committee would decide whether or not to commend the JAMB boss.
The House unanimously adopted the motion and also urged the federal government to establish Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres in every local government area to improve access and avoid similar issues in the future.