I wanted to resign after JAMB technical glitches but advised not to by families, friends & stakeholders —-Professor Oloyede
The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Oloyede, has said he was advised against resigning by many stakeholders when he admitted responsibility in the technical glitches that affected 379,997 candidates across 157 centres after the release of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results.
Addressing reporters at JAMB headquarters on Wednesday, Oloyede said he had contemplated resigning but that reasons prevailed as he was made to see how his resignation would have affected many candidates in the UTME and other exams.
He announced JAMB will conduct a special mop-up examinations for estimated 5.6% candidates who missed the rescheduled UTME as a result of participating in the ongoing WAEC, including registered candidates who missed the first UTME for one reason or the other.
He said JAMB remains committed to resolving issues affecting the examination process and rejected any suggestion that administrative failures were due to incompetence or ethnic bias.
Oloyede also criticised public commentators who misunderstand or misrepresent the role of the UTME, saying that it is a placement test, not an achievement test and that its purpose is to rank candidates for available spaces in institutions, not to measure intelligence or overall academic potential.
He emphasised that high UTME scores are not the sole determinant of admission, noting that combined performance including post-UTME scores and school assessments can significantly affect a candidate’s ranking.
He said, “When this happened, my first reaction was to resign, but people advised me that, look, the students will never forgive you because it will look like you have abandoned them at a time. Even someone that’s not destined to be anything will still blame me for how he turned out in life. It was not easy at all. We announced the resit at that time because at that time, the only space we had was Agric Science practical on Friday. And we felt that we could move in and get it. We couldn’t get that type of space for another two months and we would have permanently deprived the students of their chance in life.
“Once JAMB conducts UTME late April or May, WASSCE starts and it goes on. And immediately NATEB follows. This same set of students are involved in taking all these examinations. So, once you miss your time, it will be difficult. Some are asking why didn’t you do it in July or August? I think they are oblivious of what happened. If you do that, what of NDA? What of Police Academy? What of centers that are regimented and need to continue with their admissions? So, we would deprive these people of admission because they do not have UTME? So, we are conscious of our responsibility in this nation.
“I want to say this clearly, particularly because I accepted responsibility, not because I do not know how to do the work. People that work with me have testified to the fact that I do not care where you come from. I say it for the fourth time that no conspiracy theory is relevant to this case. There is nothing to say north, south, or that you buy more outside. Something happened like people who have been doing something well for years and something just went wrong. I did not throw them under the bus.
“So we knew that if we continued to mourn and groan about what had happened and allowed that space to escape, we might not recover it. We are also taking the decision that all those who missed that examination whatever the reason, the 5.6% or 6% that missed it we would not only mop up. Normally, we hold one mop-up nationwide for those with one issue or another. This time, we are creating a new mop-up. Even those who missed the earlier exam due to absence, we will extend this opportunity to them.
“It’s not that we are doing something extraordinary. In class, you make up an examination when students miss it for one reason or the other. We just don’t allow abuse of that. So we will allow all the candidates who missed the main exam for any reason to take part in this mop-up.”
He added: “I can say it anywhere that there is no center of examination anywhere in this continent that has the type of facilities we have here. I’m not talking just as a Nigerian. Many of you who know me know that I’ve played active role in education in this continent and outside this continent. I’ve been on the board of almost all the essential communities in the world that have to do with education assessment.
“People are talking of even CBT. I started CBT at the University of Ilorin as vice chancellor. Even JAMB, at that time, had to come to Ilorin to talk with me. Unfortunately, when things happen, some people would want to prey on it and deceive millions of people. Yes, we felt pained about what happened, but that does not mean we don’t know what we are doing. When this type of thing happens, there will be too many advisers. I’ve chosen to take the responsibility.
“It doesn’t matter who did this or that, I don’t want that type of thing. Because I don’t want anybody to use this type of sad situation to now create lack of harmony among the workers who have been working. See, many of them, since a week ago, they have not even left the office, working day and night. The nation must be appreciative of their contributions. As Nigerians, let us face the reality and stop pursuing shadows.
“The shadow is what many of us are pursuing: somebody comes from somewhere, somebody’s tribe is this. If we do not face the problems squarely, we are likely to be consumed, or burned by it. Examination malpractice, for instance, is taking a new dimension. A new dimension is there and it has federal character. It’s not limited to any state. Let us all face this menace and tackle it, rather than trading blame and spending our time on things that we should not focus on.”
