Senate Minority Whip and lawmaker representing Enugu West Senatorial District, Senator Osita Ngwu, has urged the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to extend the timeframe for the rescheduled 2025 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME) for students who are to re-write the examination by at least two weeks.
The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, earlier on Wednesday, said the affected 379,997 candidates in the five states of the South-East zone and Lagos will be rescheduled for another UTME in the days to come.
Oloyede, who accepted responsibility for the circumstances leading to the failure by the affected candidates, said they will start getting text messages from the Board starting from Thursday.
“The affected candidates will start getting text messages for reschedule starting from tomorrow. I apologise, I take full responsibility,” he said.
However, in his reaction, the Senate principal officer, who is also a member of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions, commended JAMB for admitting it was at fault, but said the 48-hour timeline was grossly inadequate for the traumatised students.
Senator Ngwu, in a statement released on the heels of JAMB Registrar’s public acceptance of responsibility for the unfortunate situation, said a minimum two-week window was necessary for proper academic and emotional recovery.
According to the lawmaker, the 3,000 students he trained under the Enugu West Academy that were affected by the technical glitch on JAMB systems were traumatised and can’t go into the examination and performed well within the period of two days.
“I commend JAMB, but we need to address the issue of giving students less than 48 hours to prepare for such a critical exam—especially after the trauma caused by JAMB. I don’t believe JAMB is being fair in this regard.
“Rescheduling alone is not enough. A minimum two-week window is good for proper academic and emotional recovery. This is about fairness, not just logistics.
“I have 3,000 students I trained under Enugu West Academy that were affected by the technical glitch and it’s been traumatic for the kids. With the vigorously preparation we accorded them, if a level field was provided, they would have performed excellently well.
“Therefore, I call on JAMB to extend the timeframe for the rescheduled Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination(UTME) by at least two weeks to enable the candidates recollect themselves for the exercise,” Senator Ngwu stated.
