In a rare moment of institutional candour, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Wednesday admitted a serious technical error in the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), affecting the results of nearly 380,000 candidates across 157 centres in Lagos and the South-East.

Addressing a packed press conference at the JAMB National Headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, described the error as a “bitter truth” and took full responsibility for the mishap, while invoking the age-old adage, “Man proposes, God disposes.”

Prof. Oloyede revealed that while preparations for the UTME had been meticulous, a flaw emerged during the deployment of an updated software patch to shuffle exam options — a process meant to improve security and fairness. Unfortunately, some servers in the Lagos and Owerri zones failed to install the update properly, resulting in candidates’ responses not being correctly uploaded.

“This error was not due to sabotage, nor a systemic glitch, but a failure on the part of one of our service providers to follow through on a critical update,” Oloyede said. “And for that, I unreservedly apologise to the affected candidates and the Nigerian public.”

The Registrar disclosed that the Board had launched an expedited review process following public outcry over the results released on May 9. This led to the identification of the affected centres — 65 in Lagos State and 92 in South-East states — and the subsequent decision to reschedule UTME for all affected candidates, starting Friday, May 16.

He assured that JAMB has secured the cooperation of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to prevent any clashes with ongoing Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE). Candidates are being contacted via SMS, email, and phone calls and are expected to reprint their new examination slips.

Despite the setback, JAMB noted a historical achievement: the highest UTME score this year — 374 — is the best in over a decade. However, general performance dipped slightly from last year, a point the Board said fell within historical norms.

Beyond apologies, Prof. Oloyede praised stakeholders, including education experts and civil society representatives, who worked around the clock to assess the technical failure and craft a response.

“I am sorry, and I take full responsibility,” Oloyede stated, concluding a sober and transparent briefing. “We are human and not perfect, but integrity remains our compass.”

The affected candidates and their families await the outcome of the rescheduled tests, hopeful that the Board’s swift remedial actions will restore confidence in Nigeria’s most critical tertiary admissions gateway.