Nigeria’s House of Representatives has resolved to probe the poor performance and technical hitches that marred the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The House resolution followed the adoption of a Motion of Urgent Public Importance by Adewale Adebayo representing Irepodun/Olorunda/Osogbo/Orolu Federal constituency, who expressed concern over the difficulties faced by candidates during the examination.
The lawmaker lamented the hardship candidates face during long distance travel to various Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres, which exposes them to psychological stress, road accidents, kidnappings, and other security threats, citing an incident involving students from Oyo State who lost their lives while traveling for the examination.
Adebayo condemned the examination body’s recent admission of technical errors that affected candidates’ performance in the 2025 exercise, forcing the Board to reschedule the examination for 379,997 affected candidates in Lagos and the South-East.
Lawmakers, in their contributions, called for a thorough investigation into the factors behind the mass failure and operational lapses.
The lawmakers also asked JAMB to release the results of candidates under 16 years old, in compliance with an earlier House resolution suspending the policy barring such candidates from admission.
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Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli, came to JAMB’s defence, arguing that the Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, deserves commendation for openly admitting the Board’s failings.
Soli praised the Registrar’s transparency, noting that past reforms under his leadership had significantly boosted JAMB’s credibility and revenue from N1.2bn to over N17bn annually.
The House has mandated its Committee on Appropriations to ensure the inclusion of funds for the establishment of at least one CBT centre in each of the 774 Local Government Areas in the 2026 budget.
Lawmakers also directed the Committees on Basic Education, ICT, to collaborate with JAMB to address recurring technical glitches affecting the examination process.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
