UTME Mass Failure: Deputy Speaker Kalu Calls For Independent Audit, Review Of Reports

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, has urged the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) to commission an independent and transparent audit of its entire examination infrastructure after the conclusion of the rescheduled 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Kalu said the audit should involve external professionals, system engineers, and academic measurement experts to scrutinise every aspect of the CBT engine, question delivery, answer validation, and result collation processes.

Following the mass failure of the 2025 UTME, JAMB rescheduled the examination for over 300,000 candidates affected by technical glitches during the initial exercise.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, Kalu insisted that JAMB should immediately review all available technical and independent reports, including those from third-party educational technology companies that have gathered candidate-level data, to understand the scope and implications of the crisis fully.

According to the deputy speaker, triangulating internal findings with external audits will ensure no affected candidate is left behind.

He said it was imperative that candidates from the South-East and Lagos, who had already borne the brunt of these failures, were not further disadvantaged.

Kalu said JAMB must provide a precise, accessible mechanism for remark and appeal, especially for those dissatisfied with the hurried resignation or who experienced Technical difficulties during the second sitting. He insisted that coordination with other examination bodies must continue to ensure that no candidate’s academic progression is impeded by scheduling conflicts.

The deputy speaker also said JAMB should proactively publish anonymised, candidate-level result data for independent verification and open its systems to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests as a gesture of transparency and accountability.

He further said that JAMB must implement stronger deployment validation protocols and real-time monitoring mechanisms to prevent recurrence. He stressed that every system update must be thoroughly tested and confirmed across all server clusters before deployment during high-stakes examinations.

I address you today with deep concern and urgent responsibility. The events surrounding the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) have shaken public confidence in one of our nation’s most critical gateways to opportunity. The mass outcry that followed the release of this year’s results and the subsequent technical review demands transparency and decisive action to restore faith in our educational system.

First of all, let me begin by commending the candour, touching humility, and accountability demonstrated by the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq

Oloyede and his team admitted to the technical errors that affected nearly 380,000 candidates across the South-East Geopolitical Zone and Lagos. The swift apology and the decision to offer retake opportunities for all affected candidates reflect a commitment to fairness and justice.

However, we must recognise that these measures, while necessary, do not erase the trauma, disruption, and uncertainty experienced by our young people and their families. Nigeria unfortunately lost a UTME candidate to suicide, consequentially triggered by the ensuing results of this technical glitch. Our heart goes out to the loved ones of this brave young one.

The technical review results have revealed that a critical system patch essential for the new shuffling and validation protocols was not deployed to the server clusters servicing 157 centres in the South-East and Lagos.

„…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 and marking.
Structure. This affected an estimated 379,997 candidates, whose results were severely impacted due to system mismatches during the answer validation.

To verify the scale and accuracy of this issue, JAMB collaborated with the Educare Technical Team, which had gathered response data directly from over 18,000 candidates. After deduplication and filtering, about 15,000 authentic records were analysed. Of these, more than 14,000 originated from the regions serviced by the unpatched LAG servers, confirming the technical review‘s findings.

…To the affected candidates: your frustration is valid, and your voices have been heard. The integrity of our national examinations must never be compromised by technical lapses or human error.

As Deputy Speaker, I assure you that the National Assembly stands ready to provide oversight and ensure that these reforms are not only promised but delivered. Let us turn this painful episode into a catalyst for lasting improvement.

Our young people deserve a system that is fair, resilient, transparent, and worthy of their trust. I end with this note to JAMB: “Strive even when you stumble; transparency and honesty build trust, and trust propels us forward,” Kalu added.