JAMB: My emotional breakdown over glitches in UTME not sign of weakness — Oloyede

Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Prof. Is’haq Oloyede has said the emotional breakdown he experienced while owning up to the glitches that trailed the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) was not a sign of weakness.

He also said it was not an excuse to adjudicate his responsibilities.

His response came on Wednesday, in reaction to criticisms directed at JAMB over technical glitches that marred the recent UTME.

Oloyede had recently admitted that it had few errors which impacted negatively on the performance of candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.

Recall also that following the release of the UTME results, there was complaints of widespread failure from most of the candidates who sat for the examination.

The development had compelled JAMB to engage IT experts to investigate what went wrong.

Oloyede admitted to this, saying,“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors”.

Of the 1.9 million candidates who took the UTME, over 1.5 million reportedly scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks, raising concerns across the education sector.

But reacting to the criticisms, during a meeting with Chief External Examiners, Civil Society Organisations as well as some Stakeholders from Nigerian tertiary institutions, Oloyede said its a pity that some individuals who cannot manage small organisations effectively are busy pontificating about the inefficiencies in JAMB.

According to the JAMB boss, he accepted responsibility because of his track record in educational advancement and conduct of examinations.

He regretted that many naysayers who don’t know the workings of the Board are busy appearing in national television to pontificate about the outcome of the UTME and sending wrong notion to Nigerians.

Oloyede who enjoined stakeholders at the meeting to observe a minute silence for a candidate who allegedly committed suicide over the outcome of the UTME, said he felt really pained when he held the news.

He said, “As chief executive of JAMB, I don’t really care where any of our staff comes from, all I know is that they have been doing their jobs for years.

“The emotional breakdown on my part was not a sign of weakness, neither is it an excuse to adjudicate our responsibilities. Let us not be decent to a level where some people begin to pontificate because some people want to take advantage of the situation on ground”.

The JAMB Boss however said all candidates who missed the examination initially would be allowed to retake the examination afresh.

JAMB: My emotional breakdown over glitches in UTME not sign of weakness — Oloyede