Thousands of UTME Candidates to Sue JAMB Over Mass Failure and Technical Glitches

Thousands of UTME Candidates to Sue JAMB Over Mass Failure and Technical Glitches

  • Thousands of 2025 UTME candidates are taking legal action against JAMB over alleged technical glitches and incomplete exam questions
  • Amid widespread concerns, over 8,000 affected students have formally filed complaints, demanding transparency in the marking process
  • As frustration mounts, stakeholders call for accountability, while JAMB remains silent on the issue

Thousands of students who sat the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) have initiated legal action against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over reported technical glitches and incomplete questions that allegedly disrupted the test.

According to PUNCH, the controversy erupted following JAMB’s announcement that over 1.5 million candidates out of the 1.9 million who sat the exam scored below 200 out of 400 total marks.

Thousands of UTME Candidates to Sue JAMB Over Mass Failure and Technical Glitches
Thousands of UTME Candidates to Sue JAMB Over Mass Failure and Technical Glitches. Photo credit: JAMBHQ/X
Source: Twitter

The results sparked widespread concern, with the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, attributing the decline to enhanced anti-malpractice measures.

Students and parents demand transparency amid mass failure

JAMB officially released the 2025 UTME results on Friday, highlighting that a significant number of candidates had fallen below the expected 200-mark threshold.

While government officials insisted the scores reflected efforts to curb exam fraud, affected students and parents cited technological failures as the primary cause of the poor outcomes.

A candidate who sat the exam in Maitama, Abuja, recounted her experience, stating, “During my Use of English exam, several questions were missing. I raised concerns, and I wasn’t the only one affected. My final score was 170, and JAMB has yet to address the issue.”

Similarly, another candidate expressed shock at her results, saying, “I scored 287 last year, but this year, my score dropped to 173. Many candidates who wrote the exam on April 26 faced similar issues with incomplete English questions. This result does not reflect my actual performance.”

Legal proceedings commence against JAMB

Chief Executive Officer of Educare and education advocate, Alex Onyia, announced on May 11 that legal proceedings would commence at the Federal High Court on May 12 against JAMB.

Onyia revealed that more than 8,000 affected students had submitted formal complaints, seeking transparency in the marking process.

“Currently, we have 8,391 students who have sent in their complaints regarding the glitches in the JAMB 2025 exam,” Onyia posted on his X (formerly Twitter) page, @winexv. “There is ample evidence proving that JAMB’s system was inefficient, thereby causing serious harm to these students’ mental health.”

Thousands of UTME Candidates to Sue JAMB Over Mass Failure and Technical Glitches
Thousands of UTME Candidates to Sue JAMB Over Mass Failure and Technical Glitches. Photo credit: Jamb
Source: Original

Candidates call for immediate action

Students and parents have urged JAMB to disclose detailed marking sheets, allowing candidates to verify their scores. Onyia stressed the importance of fairness, stating, “The demand is for JAMB to show all students their mark sheets—what they failed, the correct answers, and a clear process to dispute results. The futures of these students depend on it.”

A concerned parent echoed these sentiments, stating, “We demand a remark from JAMB. These are exceptional students scoring below 200, yet many reported incomplete questions and technical failures. JAMB has not addressed these concerns. This cannot be ignored.”

JAMB yet to address allegations

Despite mounting pressure, JAMB has yet to respond to the specific complaints raised by candidates. Attempts to reach JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, for comments were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.

With legal proceedings underway and public scrutiny intensifying, stakeholders continue to demand accountability from JAMB regarding the alleged examination flaws.

Student rejects food For 48 hours over poor performance in JAMB

Legit.ng earlier reported that a Nigerian teacher has cried out as one of his students refused to eat after seeing her performance in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

According to the teacher, the student has not eaten for the past 48 hours because her results were poor.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Basit Jamiu avatar

Basit Jamiu (Current Affairs and Politics Editor) Basit Jamiu is a journalist with more than five years of experience. He is a current affairs and politics editor at Legit.ng. He holds a bachelor's degree from Ekiti State University (2018). Basit previously worked as a staff writer at Ikeja Bird (2022), Associate Editor at Prime Progress (2022), and Staff Writer at The Movee (2018). He is a 2024 Open Climate Fellow (West Africa), 2023 MTN Media Fellow, OCRP Fellow at ICIR, and Accountability Fellow at CJID. Email: basit.jamiu@corp.legit.ng.

Tags: