The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commenced the rescheduling of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for 379,997 candidates who were affected by technical disruptions during the recently concluded exercise.
The announcement came following a press briefing by the Registrar of the board, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, in Abuja on Wednesday, where he openly admitted that a number of lapses affected the smooth conduct of the 2025 UTME, especially in parts of Lagos and the South-East.
According to Prof. Oloyede, “A total of 206,610 candidates were affected across 65 centres in Lagos. In the South-East, we had disruptions in 92 centres covering five states, affecting 173,387 candidates.”
He noted that JAMB had commenced notifying the affected candidates of their new examination dates. “The affected candidates will start getting text messages for reschedule starting from tomorrow,” he said on Wednesday. “I apologise, I take full responsibility.”
By Thursday morning, candidates had begun receiving notifications. One of the reprinted slips seen by our correspondent showed that a female candidate in Lagos has been rescheduled to sit for her exam on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 12 noon.
The new centre is located in the Igando community of Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos State.
The rescheduling move, though a response to challenges, has been met with commendation in some quarters for JAMB’s transparency. Education analysts have described Oloyede’s rare public apology and assumption of responsibility as an exemplary approach to public service.
A concerned parent in Owerri, Chinedu Okoro, expressed cautious optimism. “It’s frustrating for the students, but we appreciate that JAMB is owning up and working swiftly to fix it. That gives us some hope,” he said.
This development follows rising concerns about the 2025 UTME, with many candidates initially uncertain about their performance due to reported network failures, biometric verification problems, and server downtimes in some centres.
More updates are expected from JAMB in the coming days as the rescheduling continues across various zones.
