Thousands Of UTME Candidates To Sue JAMB Over Mass Failure

Thousands of candidates who participated in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination are preparing to sue the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) following widespread reports of technical issues and incomplete questions that allegedly disrupted the exam.

JAMB revealed that over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates—approximately 79 percent—scored below 200.

Further analysis of the results showed that only 12,414 candidates, accounting for less than one percent, scored 300 and above.

The results have sparked nationwide concern, with students and their families voicing their frustration on social media and urging JAMB to reassess the outcome.

Despite the backlash, JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin insisted that the results accurately reflected the candidates’ performance. Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, claimed the widespread low scores were a sign that the board’s anti-malpractice measures were working effectively.

Education advocate and CEO of Educare, Alex Onyia, announced on Sunday that a lawsuit against JAMB would be filed at the Federal High Court on Monday.

Onyia stated that more than 8,000 affected students had lodged official complaints, demanding the release of detailed marking schemes and access to individual score verification.

“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) page, @winexv. “There is ample evidence to prove that JAMB’s system was inefficient, thereby causing serious harm to these students’ mental health,” he said.

“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.”

A candidate who sat the examination at a CBT centre in 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 exam on April 26 expressed shock upon seeing her 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.”

A parent also called for a review, saying: “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.”