For 96,838 candidates involved in the ripple effects of this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), a second chance to redeem themselves holds on Saturday. JAMB is organising a mop-up UTME for the affected candidates. Assistant Editor Bola Olajuwen reports on what necessitates the fresh examination and how it will be conducted.
ON Saturday, no fewer than 96,838 candidates will have a chance to sit for mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to be organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). The mop-up examination will accommodate 5,096 spill-over candidates, those who failed biometric verification during the main exercise for this year’s UTME. It will also include absentee candidates of the main and resit examinations as well as 91,742 candidates, who were absent in both or either of the main and resit examinations.
Reasons behind the mop-up exam
It will be recalled that the JAMB UTME results were initially affected by a technical glitch, which was identified as a human error. This error led to a mass resit for over 379,000 candidates, primarily in Lagos and the Southeast.
The board acknowledged the error and apologised for the disruption after a public uproar. The affected candidates were contacted and were given new dates for their resit examination.
According to JAMB, the issue stemmed from a failure to properly apply a patch update on some of the service providers’ servers, specifically in Lagos and the Southeast during the initial release of the results.
Approximately 206,610 candidates in Lagos and 173,387 candidates in the Owerri zone, comprising the Southeast states, were affected.
Surprisingly, JAMB’s registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, at a media briefing, took responsibility for the error and apologised to the affected candidates and the public. A mass resit was ordered for the candidates, with JAMB working with West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to minimise timetable clashes.
The board also engaged top IT experts and educational assessment professionals to investigate the technical glitches that marred the examination.
Despite the registrar’s public apology and steps taken by the board, some stakeholders and the Southeast National Assembly Caucus, led by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, called on the management to urgently carry out an independent system audit and review all reports concerning the glitch that characterised the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Kalu asserted that the events surrounding the 2025 UTME shook public confidence in one of the nation’s most critical gateways to opportunity.
According to him, the mass outcry that followed the release of the results, and the subsequent technical review, demands not only transparency, but decisive action to restore faith in the country’s educational system.
The Deputy Speaker commended the JAMB boss for accepting responsibility for the outcome of the exercise, saying: “The swift apology and the decision to offer retake opportunities for all affected candidates reflect a commitment to fairness and justice.”
He noted that though the apology was in order, it did not erase the trauma, disruption, and uncertainty experienced by the candidates and their families. He lamented the case of a candidate who committed suicide owing to the outcome of the UTME exercise.
The House of Representatives also launched an investigation into the technical malfunction that marred the UTME. In addition, the lawmakers urged the Federal Government to mandate JAMB to release the results of all candidates below the age of 16 who participated in the examination.
They also called for the establishment of Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres in all 774 local government areas of the country to ease the difficulties faced by candidates during examinations.
JAMB to candidates: get ready for the mop-up exam
During the week, the board, in a statement by its Public Communications Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said the affected candidates for the mop-up examination can begin printing their examination notification slips from June 23.
The statement said: “The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has approved Saturday, June 28, for the conduct of the 2025 UTME mop-up examination. This examination will accommodate the 5,096 spill-over candidates and those who failed biometric verification during the main exercise.
“Also, due to the special dispensation granted to absentee candidates of the main and resit examinations, 91,742 candidates who were absent in both or either of the main and resit examinations would also be given this opportunity which is only for 2025 UTME. Thus 96,838 candidates are being rescheduled for the 2025 mop up exercise in 183 centres across the nation while others are kept on standby.”
No mop-up exam in 113 CBT centres
JAMB, however, said that 113 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres across the country have been suspended or delisted due to various infractions uncovered during the conduct of the UTME.
According to the board, some of the affected centres were found to have committed technical infractions during the mock and main examinations, while others were implicated in ongoing security investigations into examination malpractice.
“Consequently, 113 CBT centres have been delisted or suspended from across the country. Some other implicated in multiple infractions in the main or resit examinations exercise,” it said.
JAMB hails security agencies
The board expressed appreciation to security agencies for their role in a nationwide investigation into identity theft and other forms of examination fraud, which has led to several arrests and prosecutions.
As part of the investigation, the board said some examination towns have been disqualified from hosting the mop-up exam, adding that affected candidates will be reassigned to nearby centres.
The statement said: “The board also appreciated the security agencies, particularly the State Security Service (SSS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), for their extra-ordinary devotion, passion and tenacity in the on-going nationwide special investigation of identity theft and examination malpractices syndicates which led to the arrest and prosecution of tens of culprits, including few JAMB officials, professional examination takers and syndicates of some school proprietors and tutorial centres.
“As a result of the investigation, a number of examination towns are no longer eligible to be used for the mop-up examinations. Few candidates who fall into the deactivated examination towns would be assigned to examination towns closest to the delisted towns. We seek the understanding of such candidates.”
JAMB stated that the mop-up exam offers an opportunity to identify and prosecute more impersonators, including undergraduates who sit for UTME on behalf of others.
“The scheduled mop up examination provides the opportunity to further apprehend more impersonators particularly current undergraduate students, who impersonate UTME candidates. Institutions of apprehended undergraduates are already being notified of the gross misconduct of their students in order to invoke the violation of the matriculation oath already taken by the students to flush them out of the various tertiary institutions, in addition to their prosecution under the Examination Malpractice Act, 1999, which makes provisions for imprisonment even of the under-aged and their indulgent parents,” it said.
Special invigilators, security personnel for exam
JAMB also added that it is deploying special squads of invigilators and security personnel as part of the renewed crackdown on malpractice.
“Special squads of invigilators/security personnel are being deployed in the continuation of the current war already declared by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on examination malpractices and their perpetrators both high and low,” it said.
How the exam will be conducted
Candidates sitting for the 8:00 a.m. session are advised to arrive early.
“The first session for the examination day starts, as usual, at 8:00am. Candidates for the 8:00am session are therefore advised in their own interest to arrive one or one and half hour before the actual commencement of the examination at 8:00am,” the board said.
“Eligible and genuine candidates are advised to print their examination notification slips from Monday, 23rd June, 2025 in preparation for the mop-up examination scheduled for Saturday, 28th June, 2025,” it added.
Candidates react
Some of the affected candidates have hailed the fresh move by JAMB.
A candidate, Mathew James, in an interview with The Nation yesterday, said he saw the mop-up examination as a second chance.
“It is a second chance because it’s another opportunity to succeed after failing at something previously. It implies a chance to redeem oneself or try again, often after making a mistake or experiencing a setback. I am preparing adequately for it,” he said.
Another candidate, Funmi Adeola, said she is also preparing for the examination, adding that she had printed her slip and visited her centre.
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