A technical review conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has revealed that a critical oversight in server updates, coupled with human error, led to the invalidation of results for 379,997 candidates in the five states of the South East and Lagos State who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

JAMB partnered with the Educare Technical Team, an independent tech partner, to verify the scale of the impact. Data was gathered from over 18,000 candidates, and after cleansing, about 15,000 authentic response logs were analysed.

The revelation was made during a high-level technical review session held on Wednesday at JAMB’s headquarters in Abuja.

The emergency meeting, chaired by JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, was convened in response to the widespread outcry that followed the release of unusually low scores from the 2025 UTME the previous Friday.

Data revealed that over 1.5million candidates out of the 1.9million candidates, whose results were released by the board, scored less than 200 marks.

According to the report, the error was rooted in the uneven deployment of a critical server patch required to support major innovations introduced in this year’s UTME.

While these upgrades were correctly applied to servers in the Kaduna (KAD) cluster, they were not deployed to the Lagos (LAG) cluster, which services Lagos and the South-East region.

This led to widespread mismatches in answer interpretation and validation.

“Over 14,000 of those records were traced to the affected centres under the LAG server cluster,” the report confirmed, adding that internal and external audits showed significant overlap in results, supporting the conclusion of systemic malfunction.

“As a result, approximately 92 centres in the South-East and 65 centres in Lagos — totalling 157 centres — operated using outdated server logic that could not appropriately handle the new answer submission/marking structure. This affected an estimated 379,997 candidates, whose results were severely impacted due to system mismatches during answer validation,” the report stated.

It added, “This review, conducted with thoroughness and transparency, signifies JAMB’s resolve to uphold the sanctity of its examination processes. Going forward, stronger deployment validation protocols and real-time monitoring mechanisms will be implemented to prevent such oversights.

“In summary, JAMB opened its systems to independent reviews to restore public confidence and ensure the reliability of the UTME for all stakeholders. And we hereby report, that this incident was neither a system failure nor administrative manipulation, but an outright human error.”

Speaking during the press briefing in Abuja, Oloyede broke down in tears while addressing issues surrounding the results, admitting that the errors were caused by a systemic failure.

He stated that the affected 379,997 candidates would resit the examination.

“In simple terms, while 65 centres (206,610) were affected in Lagos Zone (comprising only Lagos), 92 centres (173,387) were affected in Owerri Zone, which includes the South East states.

“In clear terms, in the process of rectifying this issue, the technical personnel deployed by the service provider inadvertently failed to update some of the delivery services. Regrettably, this oversight went undetected prior to the release of the results.”

Speaking further, Oloyede noted that the board was able to isolate the affected centres, adding that a resit would be organised for the affected candidates.

“We have decided that all the candidates affected in the 157 centres out of 882 centres will be contacted to retake their examinations starting from Friday, May 16, 2025. These candidates are to be contacted through text messages addressed to their registered phones,” the JAMB boss added.

“I understand that there are three powerful expressions which contain one word, two words and three words respectively. They are please, thank you and I am sorry. So, I appeal to the candidates and those affected by the error of our system to accept this explanation as the truth of the matter without embellishment, PLEASE. I apologise and take full responsibility, not just in words.

“Then, I want to say a big THANK YOU to the Honourable Minister of Education for his unwavering belief in JAMB and what the board stands for. I also appreciate all officers and officials who believe in us for their goodwill in the face of this challenge. We have vowed to uphold integrity as the abiding philosophy of JAMB and we won’t waver or depart from it despite the fact that we are not infallible. I am equally grateful to all stakeholders who have lent us their support and expertise in arriving at a logical conclusion that we have arrived at. And for the inconveniencies, once again, on behalf of JAMB, I say, I AM SORRY to all Nigerians.”

However, calls for the resignation of the JAMB registrar heightened on Wednesday following the revelation.

An education analyst, Jacob Sule, who posted on X via his account @jacobsule asked that the registrar stepped aside.

“A country should not be governed by emotions or personal sentiments. Given the circumstances, the Registrar, Professor Oloyede, should be asked to step aside immediately to allow for a full scale independent and transparent investigation.

“Additionally, the Registrar must publicly retract his earlier statements and issue a formal apology to the affected students who have endured undue stress and discomfort. Accountability and empathy are essential in restoring public trust in our institutions.”

Samoal Fred, also on X, stated, “Instead of shedding crocodile tears, while some irresponsible adults applauded in the audience, Prof. Oloyede should have tendered his resignation.  That was the least he could have done.”

Ajao Olumota, who posted via @MrGatsby, added, “Oloyede should please resign. This is disgraceful from him.”

Funsho Olushola, who posted on X via @abolajijnr, said, “Someone lost her life already. Oloyede should be in jail already. Everyone responsible should resign and face the law. Inept organization.”

Meanwhile, angry parents of underage candidates demanded that their children’s results be released by the board.

One of the parents, who identified herself simply as Mr. Ashaolu, told The PUNCH in Abuja, “We don’t understand why the board has refused to release the results of the under 16 candidates. Why subject these candidates to trauma? They sat the examinations and should have access to their results.”

Mrs Abiodun Ashimolowo added, “My daughter has been bothered. Why will you hold unto their results because they are underage? Where in the world is that done?”

Also, the President, Parents Teachers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Danjuma Haruka, commended Oloyede for openly admitting to the technical glitches that affected the UTME candidates.

Haruka praised Oloyede’s honesty and called on other government agencies to emulate such transparency.

“I commend him for his openness in admitting that a mistake was made. I wish all arms of government would follow the example set by Professor Oloyede,” he said.

However, the PTA is demanding further clarity on the nature of the errors that disrupted the examination.

“Were these computer errors? What specific mistakes were identified? As parents, we would like to see the list of affected candidates so we can be assured that the fault does not lie with our children,” Haruka added.

Describing the incident as damaging to the country’s global image, the PTA boss emphasised the need for JAMB to ensure such disruptions do not occur again. He also called for detailed communication from the board to help reassure concerned parents and students.

“We are ready to accept his apology in good faith, but we need clarity — what went wrong and what has been corrected. Many of the candidates were unprepared or struggled with computer use, but it is important to confirm that the children were not at fault,” Haruka stated.

Meanwhile, The PUNCH learnt that the error was initially discovered on April 25.

It was discovered that there were omissions in the items within the ‘Lagos category’, a code for southern states – excluding the six south south states – but including Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory.

Findings revealed that an update for correction and grading adjustment was instantly made and it was tested on Saturday, April 26; Sunday, April 27 and Monday, April 28.

Following the massive failure experienced by candidates in the recently conducted 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened legal action against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Oyibo Eze, the chairman of the University of Nigeria Nsukka chapter of ASUU, on Wednesday, said the union might be left with no option but to sue JAMB over the conduct and processing of the UTME results.

Speaking during a press briefing, Eze noted that the majority of those affected in the released UTME results are candidates from the Southeast region.

He alleged the examination body’s action is aimed at deliberately sabotaging the desire of these candidates to gain admission into tertiary institutions.

“My office has been inundated with protests, calls and visits by parents and the general public on this deliberate massive failure in the 2025 JAMB examination.

“ASUU will challenge this result in the High Court if JAMB fails to review the result and give candidates their merited scores.

“JAMB knows that children from the South East must score higher before they can get admission, whereas their counterparts in some parts of the country will use a 120 JAMB score to get admission to read medicine in universities in their area,” Eze said.

The ASUU leader further called on the governors of the states in the region to stand up to the occasion and challenge the injustice against the candidates from the region

Christian Okeke, a lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, has called for the resignation of Ishaq Oloyede, the registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Okeke, while reacting to the recent admission by Oloyede that the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) was riddled with errors due to a technical glitch, said JAMB’s registrar should tender his resignation with immediate effect.

The university don also warned that mandating the candidates to rewrite the examination is unacceptable.

Okeke said merely taking responsibility and shedding tears like Oloyede did during the press briefing is not enough for the damage caused by the error in the results released by JAMB.

“He should go extra step by resigning from office and allowing the federal government to reposition the Board for effective service delivery,” the lecturer said.

Also, citing cases where candidates who were supposed to sit for the examination died in accidents, Okeke said the true abilities of applicants were jeopardised by the examination body.

Calling for the release of the true results of the 2025 UTME, Okeke said asking the candidates to rewrite the exams in states across the Southeast and Lagos is incentive

President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a national forest guard initiative aimed at reclaiming Nigeria’s forests from terrorists, bandits, and criminal gangs.

In a statement released on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare announced that the recruitment and deployment of forest guards will commence immediately, targeting all 1,129 forests across the country.

According to Dare, the forest guards will be well-trained, armed, and mandated to flush out criminal elements using the forests as hideouts for violent activities.

“This is a joint security effort between the federal and state governments. The Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Ministry of Environment have been directed to take charge and ensure full implementation,” he stated.

Thousands of young Nigerians are expected to be recruited into the outfit as part of a strategic initiative to create jobs while enhancing national security.

President Tinubu, in earlier remarks, had vowed that his administration would not cede “an inch” of Nigerian territory to criminal elements, declaring that “the country will take back its forests.”

The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a lawsuit against Professor Pat Utomi over his plan to establish a “shadow government” in Nigeria.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025 and filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, lists Utomi as the sole defendant.

In its filing, the DSS argues that Utomi’s actions are unconstitutional and pose a threat to national security and democratic governance.

According to court documents submitted by a legal team led by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), the DSS contends that the proposed shadow government, if allowed to exist, could incite political unrest, increase intergroup tensions, and encourage separatist groups to form similar unrecognized structures.

“The planned shadow cabinet is an aberration and a direct threat to the democratically elected government and constitutional order,” the DSS stated.

The security agency is asking the court to declare the shadow government illegal, stating that it amounts to the creation of a parallel authority not recognized by the 1999 Constitution.

It also seeks a perpetual injunction restraining Utomi, his agents, and associates from further activities related to the shadow government or any similar formation.

Citing Sections 1(1), 1(2), and 14(2)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution, the DSS maintains that governance must only be carried out in accordance with constitutional provisions and that any alternative authority structure is null and void.

The suit follows public statements by Utomi, in which he announced the formation of a shadow cabinet made up of individuals assigned to various roles, including Dele Farotimi as Ombudsman for Good Governance and other figures like Cheta Nwanze and Halima Ahmed as part of a Policy Delivery Unit.

In a supporting affidavit, the DSS said it had monitored Utomi’s activities through intelligence reports and open-source materials.

It claimed his actions were designed to undermine confidence in the elected government and mislead the public.

“The defendant’s statements and the inauguration of a shadow cabinet are capable of weakening public trust in democratic institutions and could fuel public disaffection,” the DSS stated.

The security agency added that the Federal Government had made several efforts to dissuade Utomi from the move, including warnings from the Minister of Information.

However, it said Utomi had remained defiant

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board on Wednesday finally admitted to errors which affected the performance of students during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

The Registrar of the Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede admitted to this during an ongoing press briefing in Abuja.

“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors,” Oloyede said.

The UTME is a critical prerequisite for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It tests candidates in four subjects, including the compulsory Use of English, with the other three drawn from their proposed field of study.

Of the 1.9 million candidates who sat the UTME, over 1.5 million reportedly scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks, raising concerns across the education sector.

According to the examination agency, a total of 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above, considered top-tier performance, while 7,658 candidates (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63 per cent).

Also, 73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299 while 334,560 candidates (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249.

A total of 983,187 candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, which is widely regarded as the minimum threshold for admissions in many institutions.

In the same vein, 488,197 candidates (24.97 per cent) scored between 140 and 159, 57,419 candidates (2.94 per cent) scored between 120 and 139, 3,820 candidates (0.20 per cent) scored between 100 and 119, and 2,031 candidates (0.10 per cent) scored below 100.

Over 75 per cent of all candidates (1.5 million) scored below 200, average score seeing as the examination is graded over 400.

Some affected candidates threatened to initiate a lawsuit against JAMB.

Details later…

The Senate on Wednesday passed a proposed ₦1.783 trillion statutory appropriation bill for the Federal Capital Territory for the 2025 financial year for second reading.

President Bola Tinubu formally presented the budget proposal in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, urging the Senators to fast-track its passage to facilitate critical development projects within the FCT.

In the letter, which Akpabio read, Tinubu emphasised that the budget presentation complies with Section 299 of the Nigerian Constitution, empowering the President to lay the FCT’s budget before the National Assembly.

The President highlighted that the proposed budget would boost key sectors, including health, social welfare, agriculture, and employment, stressing that its passage is crucial for delivering an effective and service-oriented administration to FCT residents.

Tinubu outlined that 85% of the total allocation would be directed towards completing ongoing infrastructure and development projects, while the remaining 15% would fund new initiatives.

“The passage of the budget would facilitate investment in health and social welfare, increase agricultural production, and improve job creation.

“I urge the National Assembly to give this budget the urgent attention it deserves, in the interest of accelerating development within the FCT,” he added. 

Immediately after the letter was read at plenary, the FCT budget went through its first reading and was subsequently presented for second reading.

The budget breakdown includes N150.35 billion for personnel costs, N343.78 billion for overhead, and N1.29 trillion allocated for capital projects.

To facilitate the process, Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), called for the suspension of Senate Standing Order 78(1), allowing the bill to scale second reading on the same day it was introduced.

The accelerated procedure, however, faced opposition from Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central), who raised concerns about the lack of prior distribution of the bill’s copies to Senators before the debate, citing Order 77 (3 and 4) of the Senate rules.

Despite the objections, the Senate proceeded to debate the general principles of the FCT Statutory Appropriation Bill for the 2025 fiscal year.

Leading the debate, Bamidele explained that the bill seeks to authorise the issuance of ₦1.783 trillion from the FCT Administration’s Statutory Revenue Fund to finance personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures from January 1 to December 31, 2025.

Bamidele emphasised that the primary objective of the budget is to ensure an effective, service-oriented administration with a strong focus on completing ongoing projects that are critical to infrastructure and essential services in Abuja.

He further noted that while the budget prioritises the continuation of existing projects, it also introduces new initiatives deemed crucial for the growth and sustainability of the FCT.

However, the bill was referred to the Senate Committees on FCT, Area Councils, and Auxiliary Matters for further legislative action, with a report expected back at plenary within one week.

A major scandal has rocked the Lagos State civil service after it was revealed that 30% of civil servants sent abroad for training have failed to return to Nigeria.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Establishments and Training, Afolabi Ayantayo, revealed this during a press briefing on Wednesday, to mark the second anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.

Speaking openly, Ayantayo said the government’s goal of building a better workforce through international training has been affected by the growing “Japa syndrome”—a slang term used to describe the increasing number of Nigerians leaving the country for better opportunities abroad.

“When asked how many staff returned home from such training,” Ayantayo said grimly, “while 70% returned, 30% failed to come back.”

He explained that the state is serious about training its workers, saying, “A total of 23,420 staff members benefitted from various training interventions between May 2022 and December 2024.

“Within the same period, over 185 training programmes were organised which cut across multiple cadres, skill levels and thematic areas relevant to public sector efficiency, leadership development and regulatory compliance.”

Despite this large investment, the fact that nearly a third of the trainees stayed back abroad has raised serious concerns about how the programme is monitored and how the state plans to retain its workers.

Ayantayo also said about 8,000 civil servants across various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies have been granted study leave in the last three years to improve their qualifications and skills.

He highlighted some of the ministry’s achievements, including Governor Sanwo-Olu’s approval of a N35,000 wage increase for workers to reduce the effect of economic hardship.

In the health sector, Ayantayo said the state has paid the Medical Residency Training Fund, Rural Allowance for Primary Healthcare Workers, and also given bonuses and wage awards to staff of the Lagos State College of Medicine.

However, when asked about severance packages for political appointees whose terms have ended, the Commissioner “was, however, silent on the amount of severance allowance the state government paid to political office holders whose tenure have expired.”

The Lagos State Government has said it is working to introduce monthly and quarterly rent payment options as part of efforts to reduce the financial pressure on residents, especially low-income earners.

The state Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, disclosed this on Tuesday during the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing to mark Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second year in office.

Akinderu-Fatai said the planned policy is a continuation of the state’s drive to make housing more accessible and affordable.

He recalled the government’s earlier rent-to-own scheme, which allows beneficiaries to make a five per cent initial payment and spread the balance over 10 years. 

“That initiative was well-received, and its success encouraged us to explore new ways to reduce the pressure of yearly rent payment,” he said.

He noted that many residents find annual rent payments difficult and that the new system is expected to provide relief.

“We believe that monthly or quarterly payment options will give people more breathing space and reduce the stress associated with sourcing lump sums,” he added.

He added that the government is currently consulting with landlords, developers, and other stakeholders to resolve potential challenges related to enforcement and payment systems before rolling out the initiative.

“Of course, there are issues to resolve — things like landlord cooperation, payment tracking, and enforcement. But discussions are ongoing, and we are listening to all sides,” he said.

He revealed that a pilot phase is being planned in selected areas of the state.

“This is not just policy on paper. We are making real progress. We know what this means for many families, and we are determined to make it happen,” he stated.