Iduma Igariwey, a member of the House of Representatives, has demanded that the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) be canceled due to what he described as a “catastrophic institutional failure” that has undermined the integrity and fairness of the procedure.
Igariwey, who also leads the South-East Caucus in the House, claimed the recent admission of error by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was insufficient to justify continuing with the entrace test in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, which aired on Tuesday.
He claims that the integrity of the entire examination procedure has been compromised.
The entire situation has lost its integrity, the statement read. It no longer represents fairness. He claimed that those who took the time to study and study for exams were no longer able to take those exams.
“We primarily stated that the exam must be administered properly and properly. Therefore, we are arguing that the exam must be canceled in order to ensure that everything is done right. Because we think JAMB cannot simply go ahead and pass an exam, we believe.
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Igariwey reacted to JAMB’s claim that the issues were caused by a “technical glitch” and “human error,” calling the rescheduling of the exams within 48 hours an “unreasonable and poorly thought out” situation.
If you recall, you can see that our decision-making was very restrained. According to him, the caucus responded to Professor Ishaq (Oloyode)’s statement on May 14 that Nigerians should know.
He accepted the invitation to retake the nearly 400, 000 students who took exams in April to a catastrophic institutional failure, according to what we have described as a catastrophic failure. That has never occurred in this country’s history. And I’m certain that Nigerians were shocked by it.
Two days later, or the same day, or the following day, JAMB made the announcement that students would have to return to classrooms and wait 48 hours later to retake those same exams. According to Igariwey, those exams were now conducted on May 16th.
He noted that reports from the South-East revealed that many candidates were unable to access their designated centers as a result of the sudden rescheduling and logistical uncertainty.
“We received reports from all of our constituents.” Many students had to travel to the examination rooms. Therefore, many people were unable to take those re-sit exams. And he claimed that that was our main concern.
So JAMB is unable to simply schedule another set of exams after two days. You haven’t even informed Nigerians that whatever caused the initial issue has been fixed. An investigation is being requested by the public. An investigation of what transpired is being demanded by the people. Then you have immediately started those exams. “
He continued, “Students cannot have access. So either they will leave or they will learn that the other center will not be where it’s going to be once more. Many people chose not to take those tests.
Caucus Demands Resignation and a New Exam
The South-East Caucus of the 10th House of Representatives previously demanded that the 2025 UTME be canceled and that the JAMB Registrar, Oloyede, resign.
The lawmakers referred to the conduct of the exam as a “national shame,” in a statement signed by caucus leader Igariwey, citing systemic failure and widespread technical issues.
They demanded the resignation of JAMB’s digital operations and logistics officials, stressing that the head of the organization must bear the consequences. We request that Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the JAMB Registrar, do the necessary resign. “That’s the way to go in any civilized democracy,” said the statement.
[2025 Budget:] NASS To Cut JAMB From FG Grant, Criticizes Spending.The lawmakers from the South-East demanded full accountability and claimed that the issue had had a significant impact on all five of the region’s five states. They cautioned against accepting JAMB’s apology as the only way to restore trust.
Oloyede apologized at a press conference on May 14th, saying, “We are human, we are not perfect.
He stated that 379 out of 997 affected candidates who had complained of low scores and technical errors at 157 of 887 centers nationwide would retake the exam starting on May 16.
Over 78% of the 1.95 million candidates, according to JAMB, received scores below 200, and only 12 (414) received 300 or higher.
Source: Channels TV
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