The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has condemned the decision of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to reschedule the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for candidates affected by technical glitches, particularly in the South-East region.
The condemnation follows the recent admission by the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, that widespread technical errors marred the conduct of the 2025 UTME, especially in the five South-East states and Lagos.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Prof. Oloyede apologised to Nigerians and disclosed that 379,997 candidates across 157 examination centres would be required to retake the examination.
“As Registrar of JAMB, I hold myself personally responsible, and I unreservedly apologise for the trauma it has subjected Nigerians to,” he said.
“Despite all our efforts, an error occurred. It is a classical manifestation of the axiom that man proposes, but God disposes.”
However, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, in a statement on Thursday, described the decision to conduct a fresh examination as unacceptable.
The group insisted that JAMB must instead award a minimum of 300 marks to each affected candidate from the South-East, stating that the students should not suffer for an error that was not of their making.
The National President of the Youth Council, Nnabuike Okwu, who signed the statement, criticised JAMB for what he described as “another round of mental torture, stress, and risk” being imposed on the students.
“We want to state unequivocally that our people will not accept any fresh examination, having already been subjected to mental torture by JAMB.
The candidates are not in the right frame of mind to undergo another examination,” the statement read in part.
“Besides, who is going to bear the cost? The same parents who are facing severe financial challenges? What of the risk of moving to the examination locations, in a country ravaged by insecurity?”
Okwu further alleged that the technical errors were part of a deliberate plot to disenfranchise Igbo candidates and deny them access to higher education.
“Having said this, we demand that JAMB should allocate a 300 score to all the South-East candidates affected by its own error. The Igbo are very brilliant people and could have made 300 and above,” he said.
“Should JAMB fail to heed our request, we shall not hesitate to drag them to court; no form of crocodile tears by the registrar will save the Board.”
The board had earlier revealed that of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME, over 1.5 million scored below 200 out of a total of 400 marks, sparking nationwide concern over the examination’s credibility.
Meanwhile, a bill sponsored by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, and Rep. Daniel Ago, seeking to address voter apathy during elections, is currently being considered in the National Assembly.
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