Human rights activist and presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has called for the immediate resignation or dismissal of the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, following widespread failures and acknowledged errors in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The examination body had earlier admitted to technical issues affecting a significant number of candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME. Out of approximately 1.9 million students, over 1.5 million scored below 200 out of a possible 400 — a performance that has sparked national outrage and renewed criticism of the education system.
In a press briefing held in Abuja, JAMB Registrar Prof. Oloyede confirmed that some affected candidates will be required to retake the UTME, and notifications will be sent via text message starting Thursday. According to the board, 379,997 candidates across five South-East states and Lagos are scheduled for a resit.
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Reacting swiftly to the development, Sowore took to his verified X account to condemn the conduct of the 2025 UTME, alleging gross incompetence and negligence on the part of JAMB and its leadership.
“This is a country of really dangerous public officials,” Sowore wrote. “While @JAMBHQ Registrar is here forming, he ‘regrets’ the monumental disaster he superintended upon that has claimed a young life, and instead of resigning immediately, he brought to the same press conference a bunch of callous yes-men to clap for him.”
Sowore further demanded the immediate scrapping of JAMB as a federal institution and called for the prosecution of Prof. Oloyede for what he described as “manslaughter” resulting from administrative failure.
“The Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (@JAMBHQ) Prof. Oloyede bears responsibility for the organization’s egregious errors, which have devastatingly claimed a young life. Shedding crocodile tears is not a remedy for these infractions. As a first step, he should resign, followed by a thorough investigation and possible prosecution,” he posted.
The call for accountability adds to growing public criticism of JAMB’s management of the annual entrance exam, which serves as a gateway to Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. Critics argue that recurring system failures, technical glitches, and lack of transparency continue to undermine the credibility of the UTME process.
Parents, educators, and civil society groups have also expressed concern over the psychological and academic toll the situation may have on students, particularly those required to retake the exam.
