UTME mass failure: Weeping not enough, resign now—Varsity don tells JAMB Registrar

Oloyede

A senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Dr Christian Okeke, has called on the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, to resign following the mass failure recorded in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Okeke said the registrar’s emotional apology was insufficient, insisting that only his resignation and the release of the actual results would bring justice to the affected candidates.“How can the Registrar’s tears resurrect the dead and accentuate the depression into which candidates have been plunged? It was almost like a national mourning,” he said, describing the plan to retake the exam in some centres as “insensitive to human emotions”.

He further criticised JAMB for initially denying any fault, saying it only took sustained public pressure and threats of legal action for the board to admit its failings.

“The least that is acceptable from the Board is to release the true results of the candidates, provide psychological support and ensure that those responsible for the horrible outing take true responsibility—which must start with the exit of the Registrar,” he stated.

Meanwhile, JAMB on Tuesday admitted culpability for the technical lapses that marred the 2025 UTME and rendered results invalid in several centres across the country.

Prof. Oloyede, who addressed journalists amid a public outcry, apologised unreservedly and announced that 379,997 candidates would retake the exam between May 16 and 18.

The affected centres are located across 65 venues in Lagos State and 92 centres in the Owerri Zone, which covers the five states in the South-East: Imo, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu.

“I appeal to the candidates and those affected by the error of our system to accept this explanation as the truth of the matter without embellishment. Please, I apologise and take full responsibility—not just in words,” Oloyede said, visibly emotional.