The Pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has opposed the decision of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to reschedule the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for candidates affected by technical errors during the 2025 exam cycle.
This development followed an admission by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who acknowledged that the glitches experienced by candidates in the five South-East states and Lagos State were a result of internal errors. He noted that these issues led to unusually low scores in the UTME.
While addressing journalists on Wednesday, Prof. Oloyede issued an apology for the situation and announced that a total of 379,997 candidates from 157 examination centres would be required to retake the UTME.
“As registrar of JAMB, I hold myself personally responsible, and I unreservedly apologise for the trauma it has subjected Nigerians to, directly and indirectly. We burnt the midnight oil, but despite everything, an error happened. It is a classical manifestation of the axiom that man proposes, but God disposes,” he said.
READ ALSO:2027: We Are No Longer Comfortable with PDP; Atiku Will Leave Soon — Okowa Insists
Responding on Thursday, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, through a statement signed by its National President, Nnabuike Okwu, rejected the proposed re-examination, describing it as unjust.
He argued that JAMB’s approach would further traumatize the affected candidates, who should not be penalized for an error that was not of their making.
“We want to state unequivocally that our people will not accept any fresh examination, having already been subjected to mental torture by JAMB. The candidates are not in the right frame of mind to undergo another examination, having been faced with mental torture ever since the fake results were announced. Besides, who is going to bear the cost? The same parents who are facing severe financial challenges? What of the risk of moving to the examination locations, in a country ravaged by insecurity?” Mr Okwu asked.
He insisted that the only just resolution would be for JAMB to award 300 scores to each affected candidate from the South-East, arguing that the region’s students are highly capable and were unfairly targeted.
“Having said this, we demand that JAMB should allocate a 300 score to all the South-East candidates affected by its own error, not that of the candidates. Igbo are very brilliant people and could have made 300 and above. It was a deliberate design to punish the people of the South-East, clearly to deny them education opportunities. Should JAMB fail to heed our request, we shall not hesitate to drag them to court; no form of crocodile tears by the registrar will save the Board,” he warned.
Earlier, JAMB had revealed that more than 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million UTME candidates scored below 200 out of a possible 400.
Follow the Parallel Facts channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaCQSAoHgZWiDjR3Kn2E
