By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Reporter
THE JOINT Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the results of the resit Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted for candidates affected by a major technical failure during the initial 2025 UTME sessions.
Of the 336,845 candidates scheduled for the resit, 21,082 were absent, with no official explanation provided for the non-attendance.
The resit followed the board’s admission of a widespread server malfunction that disrupted uploads of candidate responses at 157 centres during the first three days of the UTME in April.
JAMB’s internal review revealed that faulty server updates by one of its technical service providers caused the failure, which went undetected before results were first published on 9 May.
An estimated 379,997 candidates were impacted.
The latest results were released on Sunday following extensive deliberations by the Board’s Chief External Examiners (CEEs), chaired by Professor Olufemi Peters, Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University.
Psychometric expert Professor Boniface Nworgu endorsed the results after a thorough analysis. The CEEs confirmed the integrity of the resit data, concluding the examination process.
JAMB also approved the release of previously withheld results for under-age candidates who performed below the minimum admission standards, excluding those with cases pending in court.
However, the board reiterated that these results do not qualify such candidates for admission, consistent with undertakings signed during registration.
As part of a one-time waiver, JAMB released results of candidates found involved in online malpractice groups such as “WhatsApp Runs.”
The board clarified that this does not condone such behaviour and warned candidates against future involvement in anti-social or illicit online groups.
Those who committed serious infractions or are slated for mop-up exams remain excluded from the current result release.
Further investigations unearthed systemic fraud at some Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres, which JAMB confirmed colluded with school officials to manipulate examination conditions.
The board cited the use of photo manipulation for impersonation, LAN cable extensions to hidden “strong rooms,” and the deployment of mercenary candidates.
Over 3,000 candidates are currently under investigation, and CBT centres found complicit will be blacklisted with their proprietors’ facing prosecution.
Among the most disturbing discoveries were centres registering multiple fingerprints for single candidates, deliberate disruption of seating to enable impersonation, and widespread biometric fraud.
The board also condemned unregulated tutorial centres for fostering malpractice and called for government oversight.
JAMB dismissed reports of high scores in the nullified UTME sessions, noting that 99 per cent of candidates scored below 200 out of 400.
It referenced the case of Olisa Gabriel Chukwuemeka, who falsely claimed to have scored 326.
The board found that he had actually scored 180 and used a previous year’s result to support his claim, which led to the withdrawal of his score and the deactivation of his social media accounts.
The board cautioned against politicising technical failures and emphasised that the incident was not regionally or tribally motivated.
It commended the leadership of Registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede for transparency and urged unity in addressing the challenges exposed by the 2025 examination process.
JAMB clarified that result-checking shortcode charges via 55019/66019 are not revenue-generating, but rather a protective measure against data breaches and cybercafé extortion.
All affected candidates are being notified directly if their previously released results have been withdrawn.
