Unrest Surrounding 2025 UTME Addressed by JAMB
Rewritten Article:
Addressing the UTME Controversies: Prof. Ishaq Oloyede Speaks Out
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, recently addressed the brewing controversies surrounding the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results. In a heartfelt press conference at JAMB National Headquarters, Bwari, Abuja, he shared the board's investigations into the complaints about the results.
Hey there, listen up:
On behalf of JAMB, it's a pleasure to have you all here today to shed some light on the 2025 UTME results scandal. We appreciate your tenacity in highlighting the issue, and we salute those who voiced their concerns even though it was not necessary.
We've been in a whirlpool of emotions; this joyous occasion filled with triumph should have been tainted by a regrettable hiccup. However, we take full responsibility for the error that occurred.
Contrary to common belief, we put in relentless efforts to ensure that quality and assurance are at the core of our processes. In fact, we have various committees in place, including Peace Monitors, Chief External Examiners, Technical Advisors, and even an in-house consultant, to name a few. We've also been running mock examinations since 2017 to test our systems.
You see, we deploy our systems to the use of high-profile organizations, run simulations, simulate everything end-to-end, and even test our in-house Autobot and Autotest systems. But, unsurprisingly, an error made its way through.
So, let me tell you about our two operational 'vehicles,' christened KAD and LAG. KAD encompasses Northern states excluding Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Kogi, and FCT, but includes the South South states. On the other hand, LAG includes Southern states excluding the 6 South South states but includes Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Kogi, and FCT.
Following the mock examinations this year, we reviewed our LAG (South-West and South-East states) and KAD examination engines. We realized that in the LAG category, options to the items of our examinations were not shuffled. We insisted that the shuffling must be effected, but an update for correction and grading adjustment caused errors in some center's servers for the first three or four days in only two locations.
In English, what happened was that while 65 center's (206,610 candidates) were affected in the Lagos zone, 92 center's (173,387 candidates) were affected in the Owerri zone (covering South East states). To simplify, in trying to rectify the issue, technical personnel inadvertently failed to update some delivery servers in both zones for the first few days after the error was identified.
Now, this incident might have been a PR disaster for us, but we've learned from it and are committed to recovering our reputation. We've summoned external experts, professors, and professionals to help with our post-mortem review, and they've helped us identify the affected centres and contact those affected candidates to reschedule their exams.
In conclusion, folks, to quote a wise person, 'the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.' So here we are, acknowledging our mistakes, apologizing, and taking swift action to rectify them. Thank you for joining us today.
By the way, if you're interested, check out these articles for more perspectives:
*** JAMB Registrar Should Resign Over Exam Scandal - LecturerJAMB Admitting To Technical Error Is A Commendable Act - Osita ChidokaYour Crocodile Tears Is Not A Remedy For The Errors - Sowore Slams JAMB Registrar, Calls For ResignationJAMB Registrar Breaks Down In Tears As He Admits Errors In 2025 UTME Results (Video)JAMB Admits Error In 2025 UTME Results, To Reschedule Exam For 379,997 CandidatesJAMB, VCs, School Principals, Others To Meet, Review UTME Results**
- Despite the controversies surrounding the 2025 UTME results originating from Nigeria, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, based in Abuja, has acknowledged the error and expressed regret.
- In a press conference, Prof. Oloyede clarified that the failure to shuffle options in certain exam centers, particularly in Lagos and Owerri zones, was the cause of the glitch, affecting over 400,000 candidates in total.
- To rectify the situation, JAMB has taken responsibility and enlisted expertise from various fields to review its systems and reschedule exams for the affected candidates.
- Meanwhile, politics surrounding the issue has surfaced, with reactions from academia, politicians, and general news outlets in Nigeria, such as calls for the JAMB Registrar's resignation, acknowledgment of the commendable act by JAMB in admitting the error, and critical debate on the consequences of the incident for education and self-development.
- Reportedly, JAMB plans to hold a meeting with university Vice-Chancellors, school principals, and other stakeholders to review the UTME results and ensure fairness and integrity in the upcoming elections and examinations.
