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| JAMB Registrar: Prof. Is-haq Oloyede |
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is facing a potential legal storm as thousands of candidates who participated in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are preparing to file a lawsuit against the board, citing widespread technical issues and incomplete examination questions that they claim significantly hampered their performance. The move comes after JAMB announced that a staggering 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for this year's UTME scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks, a result that has sparked considerable outrage and concern across the country.
The disappointing outcome has ignited a fierce debate, with the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, suggesting that the mass failure is a testament to the effectiveness of JAMB's anti-malpractice measures. However, many students and parents are vehemently disputing this explanation, attributing the poor results to systemic failures within JAMB's technology and examination administration.
Adding fuel to the fire, popular education advocate and Chief Executive Officer of Educare, Alex Onyia, announced on Sunday that legal proceedings would be initiated against JAMB at the Federal High Court on Monday. Onyia revealed that over 8,000 aggrieved students have already submitted formal complaints, calling on JAMB to release detailed marking schemes and provide candidates with an opportunity to verify their scores.
"Currently, we have 8,391 students who have sent in their complaints regarding the glitches in the JAMB 2025 exam," Onyia stated in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) page, @winexv. "There is ample evidence to prove that JAMB's system was inefficient, thereby causing serious harm to these students' mental health." He continued, "The demand is for JAMB to show all the students their mark sheets to view their results—what they failed, the correct answers, and a seamless way to dispute it. The destinies of these students are at stake."
The controversy erupted following JAMB's official release of the 2025 UTME results on Friday. The Board's data revealed that over 1.5 million candidates scored below 200, less than half of the total possible score, triggering widespread national concerns regarding the apparent mass failure. While the Minister of Education attributed the outcome to the government's success in curbing exam malpractice, candidates and parents are pointing fingers at JAMB's technological deficiencies.
One candidate who sat for the examination at a Computer-Based Testing (CBT) center in Maitama, Abuja, shared their experience with The PUNCH newspaper: "During the examination, for my Use of English, I noticed that some of my questions were missing. I raised the alarm, and I wasn’t the only one with the issue. When my result came out, I scored 170. JAMB has not addressed the missing questions."
Another candidate, who took the exam on April 26, expressed shock and disbelief at her result. "Last year I scored 287, this year I got 173. Many others who wrote on the same day complained that their English questions were incomplete. This result is not mine," she asserted.
Parents are also joining the call for a thorough review of the examination process and the results. One parent stated, "We demand a remark from JAMB. These are exceptional students scoring below 200. Many complained of incomplete questions and other technical issues. JAMB has said nothing. This cannot be swept under the rug."
Despite the growing chorus of complaints and calls for transparency, JAMB has yet to issue an official response addressing the specific concerns raised by candidates and their families. Attempts to reach JAMB's spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, for comments were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report, leaving many stakeholders frustrated and seeking answers. The impending lawsuit underscores the severity of the situation and the potential for significant legal and reputational consequences for JAMB if the allegations of systemic failures are substantiated.