Thousands of candidates who took part in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are preparing to take legal action against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), claiming the exam was disrupted by major technical problems.
These issues, according to many of the affected students and their families, include missing questions, frozen systems, and score discrepancies that have now triggered a wave of outrage across the country.
On Friday, JAMB released the results of the 2025 UTME, revealing that over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates scored below 200 out of the total 400 marks. The massive failure rate has sparked widespread criticism, especially from students who insist their poor performance was not due to lack of preparation, but rather due to system failures at various Computer-Based Test (CBT) centers.
Alex Onyia, a well-known education advocate and Chief Executive Officer of Educare, stated that legal action would begin on Monday at the Federal High Court. He noted that thousands of candidates had submitted official complaints demanding transparency from JAMB.
“Currently, we have 8,391 students who have sent in their complaints regarding the glitches in the JAMB 2025 exam,” Onyia posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account, @winexv. “There is ample evidence to prove that JAMB’s system was inefficient, thereby causing serious harm to these students’ mental health.”
He also noted, “The demand is for JAMB to show all the students their mark sheets to view their results—what they failed, the correct answers, and a seamless way to dispute it. The destinies of these students are at stake.”
This legal challenge comes at a time when the Ministry of Education, through Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa, praised JAMB’s performance, claiming the results reflect stronger efforts against cheating. But critics argue otherwise.
A candidate from Maitama, Abuja, said, “During the examination, for my Use of English, I noticed that some of my questions were missing. I raised the alarm, and I wasn’t the only one with the issue. When my result came out, I scored 170. JAMB has not addressed the missing questions.”
Another candidate, who took the test on April 26, described her shock after scoring far below her previous year’s result. “Last year I scored 287, this year I got 173. Many others who wrote on the same day complained that their English questions were incomplete. This result is not mine.”
Parents have also joined the call for action. One parent said, “We demand a remark from JAMB. These are exceptional students scoring below 200. Many complained of incomplete questions and other technical issues. JAMB has said nothing. This cannot be swept under the rug.”
