The South-East Caucus of the 10th House of Representatives has demanded the resignation of Professor Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), over what it described as a disastrous failure in the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The caucus also called for a complete cancellation of the examination and the scheduling of a new date for candidates across the country.
In a statement signed by the caucus leader, Igariwey Iduma Enwo, the lawmakers described the examination’s outcome as a “national shame” and called for the immediate suspension of officials in charge of JAMB’s digital operations and examination logistics. “The registrar of JAMB is said to be a good man, but then, leadership must carry consequences,” the statement read. “We, therefore, call on the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, to do the needful by resigning his appointment to pave the way for a thorough examination and remediation of the root causes of this national shame. That’s the way to go in any civilised democracy, and we expect no less.”
The demand follows an emotional press briefing held by Professor Oloyede on May 14, during which he admitted that technical errors had affected the performance of candidates in the 2025 UTME. Fighting back tears, he said, “It is our culture to admit errors because we know that in spite of the best of our efforts, we are human; we are not perfect.” He announced that approximately 379,997 candidates would retake the examination due to widespread complaints of technical glitches, low scores, and irregularities with questions and answers.
JAMB confirmed that technical issues affected 157 out of 887 examination centres, contributing to unusually low scores and inconsistencies in test administration. However, the South-East lawmakers expressed deep concern, stating that all five states in the region were directly impacted by what JAMB referred to as “score distortions.”
Describing the situation as a “disastrous and catastrophic institutional failure,” the caucus said the incident had shattered the trust and confidence of students and families across Nigeria. They rejected apologies as insufficient to address the far-reaching implications of the flawed examination, insisting that the credibility of the country’s educational system had been compromised. “For the thousands of students across the five South Eastern states of Nigeria, the tainted and flawed outcome of the 2025 UTME examination has clearly stripped and denied them of any ‘equal and adequate educational opportunities’,” the statement concluded.
