A critical server update failure, compounded by human error, has led to the invalidation of results for 379,997 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in Lagos and the South-East. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board disclosed this during a high-level technical review held on Wednesday at its headquarters in Abuja.
The board partnered with Educare Technical Team, an independent technology firm, to assess the scale of the issue. Data from over 18,000 candidates was analysed, and after cleansing, about 15,000 authentic response logs were reviewed. The findings revealed that the error stemmed from the uneven deployment of a critical server patch meant to support new examination innovations.
While the Kaduna server cluster was correctly updated, the Lagos cluster, which serves both Lagos and the South-East, was not. This oversight led to widespread mismatches in answer interpretation and marking. Approximately 92 centres in the South-East and 65 centres in Lagos operated using outdated server logic, which resulted in severe scoring anomalies.
JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who chaired the emergency session, was visibly emotional during the press briefing. He admitted the error was caused by a failure in technical deployment and described it as a human error, not a systemic or administrative failure. He announced that all 379,997 affected candidates would retake the examination beginning Friday, May 16. Affected individuals would receive notification via text messages sent to their registered phone numbers.
Oloyede said the issue arose during efforts to rectify an internal delivery service, when technical staff inadvertently failed to update systems at specific centres. He acknowledged the mistake and appealed to the public, stating that the board accepts full responsibility. He also extended appreciation to the Minister of Education and stakeholders who stood by the board during the crisis.
Reactions across the country have been intense. Some commentators demanded Oloyede’s resignation, describing his emotional response as inadequate. Critics argued that the registrar should step aside to allow for a full and independent investigation. Others accused the board of incompetence, stating that those responsible should face legal consequences.
Parents of underage candidates have also raised concerns over the board’s refusal to release the results of candidates under the age of 16. Some parents said their children were left distressed, and they demanded that the board release the results immediately. They questioned the basis for withholding results from minors who completed the exam.
The President of the Parents Teachers Association of Nigeria, Danjuma Haruka, commended Oloyede for his openness but requested further clarification on the specific nature of the errors. He asked whether the issue was related to computer systems or human decisions and called for the publication of the names of affected candidates to ease parental anxiety.
Haruka emphasized that while many candidates were inexperienced with computer-based testing, parents needed assurance that their children’s performance was not the cause of the mass failure. He described the incident as damaging to the country’s educational credibility and urged JAMB to provide clearer communication and stronger safeguards against future disruptions.
The technical issue was first discovered on April 25. Corrections were tested between April 26 and April 28 before the results were released. The affected server category, labelled as the Lagos cluster, included not only Lagos and the South-East but also extended to Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Kogi, and the Federal Capital Territory, though the errors were isolated to Lagos and the South-East.
