My First Reaction Was To Resign After 2025 UTME Error – Oloyede Says
The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has disclosed that he briefly considered resigning after a major technical glitch disrupted the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The results of the 2025 UTME were released on May 9, with a performance breakdown showing that over 78% of candidates scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 points.
In response to widespread public outcry, JAMB launched an internal review and discovered a significant technical fault that had compromised the integrity of the results.
On May 14, Oloyede disclosed that the results of 379,997 candidates across 157 centres in Lagos and the south-east were impacted by the error.
He explained that a flawed server update from one of JAMB’s technical service providers led to the failure to upload candidates’ responses during the first three days of the exam. The issue went unnoticed until after the results were published.
JAMB subsequently organised a resit examination, which began on May 16 and continued beyond May 19.
Speaking at a meeting with chief external examiners, civil society organisations and stakeholders in the tertiary education sector on Wednesday in Abuja, Oloyede addressed the controversy and calls for his resignation. Some critics had alleged ethnic bias and sabotage about the UTME mishap.
“When it happened, my first reaction is to resign. But people advised me that the students will never forgive me because it will look like you abandoned them at such a time,” Oloyede said.
