The South East Caucus in the House of Representatives has called on the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede to immediately resign to allow for an unfettered remediation of the technical crisis in the agency.

Leader of the caucus made the call in a statement, issued on Monday by its leader, Igariwey Enwo titled “JAMB’s horrifying failure in the 2025 UMTE and the urgent need for accountability: The position of the South East Caucus of the House of Representatives”.

The statement read, “Last week, particularly on the 14th of May 2025, the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, made the shocking public admission that due to “the technical glitch” that occurred in some of its examination centres during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), some 379,997 out of 1.9 million students who sat for the examination, would need to resit same.

“As a caucus, we are expectedly concerned because the five South Eastern states where we represent, with no exception, were directly impacted by JAMB’s so-called “score distortions”.

“Over the week, we have shown restraint and waited for JAMB’s remedial measures in addressing what is clearly a disastrous and catastrophic institutional failure that has shaken the trust and confidence of students and families across the country.

“As a result of the above reasons and many more, we call for a total cancellation of the 2025 UTME examinations, and a new date fixed for same across the country. Indeed, only yesterday, the Association of Tutorial School Operators advised that, “The UTME should be moved to July/August, after the completion of WAEC and NECO examinations, to ensure that no prospective candidate is disadvantaged”. We consider this a very brilliant and compelling advice.

“To this end, we call for the immediate suspension of those at the commanding heights of JAMB’s digital operations and examination logistics. The Registrar of JAMB is said to be a good man, but then, leadership must carry consequences.

“We, therefore, call on the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, to do the needful, by resigning his appointment, to pave way for a thorough examination and remediation of the root causes of this national shame. That’s the way to go in any civilised democracy, and we expect no less”.

The statement continued “Finally, it is obvious that apologies, platitudes and public relations campaigns, are not enough in addressing the far-reaching and gargantuan implications of the national embarrassment that attended JAMB’s conduct of the 2025 UTME examination.

“While we appreciate the fact that instead of concealing or obfuscating, Professor Oloyede has come out to admit JAMB’s failure, we state most unequivocally that what JAMB has offered in remediation falls far short of the expectations of our impacted constituents.

“Indeed, JAMB’s knee jerk and fire brigade approach has been anything but sufficient, nor desirable. Traumatised students in the South Eastern states, many of who are still taking their WAEC examinations, have been invited in less than 48 hours notice, to present themselves to retake the rescheduled UTME examination.

“Reports indicate that the notice was far too short for most of the students, resulting in low turn out; and in some cases, the rescheduled date has clashed with on-going WAEC examination papers. The outcome has been heart wrenching for students and parents, and agonizingly shambolic, to say the very least.

“We need not remind Nigerians that JAMB, as an agency of government, is expected to uphold the fundamental obligations of government to its citizens.
Indeed, the framers of our constitution, in recognition of the pivotal primacy of education to our national development, clearly stated in section 18(1) of the 1999 constitution, that “Government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels.

“This principle has, by recent judicial pronouncements, assumed the status of an enforceable right to every Nigerian child. However, for the thousands of students across the five South Eastern states of Nigeria, the tainted and flawed outcome of the 2025 UTME examination has clearly stripped and denied them of any “equal and adequate educational opportunities”.