The South-East Caucus of the House of Representatives has demanded the cancellation of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), citing serious lapses in the administration of the exam by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Representative Iduma Igariwey, who leads the caucus, described the UTME as a “catastrophic institutional failure” during a televised interview.
He questioned the fairness and credibility of the process, stating that many well-prepared candidates were unable to sit for the exams.
“It has lost its integrity and fairness.
Candidates who dedicated time to prepare were unfairly denied the opportunity to take the exam,” he said.
JAMB had acknowledged that nearly 400,000 candidates were affected by technical glitches and human errors and announced a resit for May 16—just two days after the decision was made public on May 14. Igariwey criticized the short notice, saying it left many candidates stranded and unable to participate.
“From our constituencies, we received numerous complaints.
Many students couldn’t reach the exam centers on time, effectively missing the resit,” he noted.
The caucus has also called for the resignation of JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, citing a lack of accountability. Although Oloyede apologized publicly—saying, “We are human; we are not perfect”—Igariwey insisted that the hasty rescheduling and absence of a thorough investigation raised serious concerns.