By Daniel Otera
Mounting public dissatisfaction has forced the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to initiate a detailed review of the recently released 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results, following what it described as “a significant volume of unusual complaints.”
The board disclosed this on Monday through a statement signed by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, noting that its annual system audit which typically follows the examination season has been fast-tracked due to the scale of feedback received from candidates and parents nationwide.
“If it is determined that there were indeed glitches, we will implement appropriate remedial measures promptly, as we do in the case of the examinations themselves,” the statement read.
JAMB’s announcement comes in the wake of a social media storm where thousands of candidates decried what they believe to be inaccuracies in their results.
Many took to platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) with the hashtag #ThisIsNotMyResult, alleging that their performance did not reflect their academic ability or preparation levels.
Data released by JAMB revealed that over 78 percent of candidates scored below 200 marks out of a possible 400 a figure that has triggered suspicion among stakeholders. Each UTME candidate is assessed on four subjects, each worth 100 marks.
JAMB, however, insists that the scores are not far from the norm. Professor Is-haq Oloyede, the board’s Registrar, cited historical data to back the claim.
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According to him, the 2024 UTME saw 76 per cent of candidates scoring below 200, while the 2022 exam recorded a similar trend, with 1.3 million out of 1.7 million candidates scoring under the 200-mark threshold.
“In 2021, only 803 candidates out of 1.3 million scored above 300,” Mr Oloyede stated at the time, suggesting that the pattern of low scores is not unprecedented.
Nonetheless, the board said it is paying particular attention to complaints emanating from a number of states, and a full-scale technical assessment is underway.
“The review encompasses all three critical phases of the examination process: registration, examination, and result release,” the board noted.
To ensure transparency and credibility, JAMB has enlisted the support of independent experts, including members of the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria, vice chancellors of various institutions, Chief External Examiners, and experts from the Educational Association and Research Network in Africa.
Beyond social media protests, the situation is now attracting legal action. Alex Onyia, Chief Executive Officer of Educare, an education technology firm, has initiated steps toward a class-action suit against the examination body.
He is demanding the release of marking schemes and scoring breakdowns for each candidate, especially those who sat for the test on specific controversial dates.
“We need all students’ mark-sheets released to them and also exams on 24th, 25th, 26th and 28th of April must be thoroughly investigated quickly. 26th April is the worst of them all with all its incomplete questions and blank questions,” Mr Onyia posted.
According to him, over 11,000 affected candidates have submitted their details for possible inclusion in the legal action, as of Monday morning.
While JAMB maintains that its systems are robust and generally reliable, it has acknowledged that anomalies if any — will be addressed decisively.
