NIGERIA: JAMB to Reschedule UTME for 379,997 Candidates Affected by Technical Glitches

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that 379,997 candidates who experienced technical issues during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will have the opportunity to retake the exam.

The rescheduled examinations are set to begin on May 16, 2025, with affected candidates expected to reprint their examination slips accordingly.

In an update posted on its official X handle (formerly Twitter), JAMB disclosed that a technical glitch affected 157 of the 887 accredited UTME centres nationwide, resulting in what has now been linked to the general low performance of many candidates.

The Board stated, “It has been established that a technical glitch affected 157 centres out of the 887 centres in the 2025 UTME. This was responsible for the general low performance of the candidates scheduled to sit the examination in those centres.

“As such, all the affected candidates will be contacted to reprint their examination slips towards retaking their examinations starting from 16th May, 2025.”

Recall Africa Culture TV reported that during a press briefing held on Wednesday in Abuja, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede also confirmed that 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos and 173,387 candidates in 92 centres within the South East, referred to as the Owerri Zone, were affected by the disruptions.

Oloyede described the situation as an act of “sabotage” and took full responsibility.

Of the over 1.9 million candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME, more than 1.5 million scored below 200 out of a total of 400 marks, raising nationwide concerns over the integrity of the exercise and the readiness of Nigeria’s digital testing infrastructure.

The Board has assured stakeholders that measures are being taken to prevent a recurrence, while affected candidates are urged to await official communication from JAMB.