Reps Caucus Calls For Cancellation Of 2025 UTME Over Widespread Exam Failures

A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Iduma Igariwey, has demanded the cancellation of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), citing what he described as a “catastrophic institutional failure” by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Igariwey, who chairs the South-East Caucus in the House, criticized the examination body for what he said was a serious breach of fairness and integrity in the conduct of this year’s exams.

“The whole thing has lost its integrity. It has lost its fairness. People who took the time and prepared for exams were no longer in a position to take those exams,” Igariwey said.

He explained that the lawmakers’ position is not politically motivated but rooted in a desire for accountability and reform.

“What we mainly did was to say these exams just must be done the proper way, the right way. So, that’s why we are saying that the exam has to be cancelled so that the right thing is done in the first place. Because we believe that JAMB cannot just come out and paper over an examination and say they have gone on with the exam.”

His remarks follow JAMB’s own admission that a “technical glitch” and “human error” had disrupted the 2025 UTME, affecting nearly 400,000 candidates who were then asked to retake the exam.

Referring to JAMB’s public briefing, Igariwey said, “If you recall, you see that we were very restrained in taking a decision. The caucus reacted to what Professor Ishaq (Oloyede) told Nigerians on the 14th of May,” he said.

“He admitted to what we have described as a catastrophic institutional failure, where nearly 400,000 students who took exams in April were asked to come and re-sit those exams. That has never happened in the history of this country. And I’m sure it came as a shock to Nigerians.”

He criticized the board’s decision to reschedule the retake for May 16, just 48 hours after announcing it.

“We all got reports from our various constituencies. A lot of students could not make it to the examination halls. So a lot of people could not sit for those resit exams. And that was our major concern,” he stated.

Igariwey emphasized that rushing to re-administer the exams without transparency undermined public trust.

“So JAMB cannot just, after two days, set another set of exams. You haven’t even told Nigerians that you have corrected whatever led to the initial problem. People are calling for an investigation. People are calling for an examination of what happened. And then you have set those exams right immediately again.”

The Southeast Caucus of the 10th House had earlier released a statement demanding the resignation of JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, alongside a nationwide cancellation of the 2025 UTME.

In a press briefing on May 14, Oloyede addressed the situation, offering an apology for the disruption and saying, “We are human; we are not perfect.”

The controversy has sparked growing calls for accountability and a thorough review of the processes surrounding Nigeria’s tertiary entrance examinations.