The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the results of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) resit, conducted for candidates who were affected by technical errors during the initial exam sessions.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the board confirmed that out of 336,845 candidates who were rescheduled for the exam, 21,082 did not show up.
“Of the 336,845 who were eventually scheduled after isolated good sessions of the affected centres were excluded and previously unverified candidates were added, 21,082 were absent,” Benjamin said.
No official reason was given for the high number of absentees, but JAMB has announced a mop-up examination for those who missed both the main UTME and the resit, regardless of the reason. “This waiver is also extended to the candidates who for whatever reason must have missed the initial main UTME,” the board stated.
The board revealed that performance remained largely low, with 99 percent of candidates scoring below 200, and only a few reaching 217. This clarification comes in response to rumours that some candidates in the affected sessions had scored exceptionally high before their results were cancelled.
“There were no high scorers in the cancelled sessions of the UTME,” the statement noted. “Only a handful scored up to 217 in the affected sessions, while 99 percent scored below 200 marks.”
JAMB further addressed a case that went viral on social media, involving a student identified as Olisa Gabriel Chukwuemeka, who claimed he scored 326 in the 2025 UTME. The board said its investigation revealed that he had altered his 2024 score of 203 and presented it as his 2025 result. His actual score in the 2025 UTME was 180 before it was withdrawn.
“Mr. Olisa’s assertions were entirely fabricated,” JAMB said. “In reality, he sat for the 2025 UTME in Lagos State, where his actual score (prior to withdrawal) was 180. Following the exposure of his deceit, Mr. Olisa deactivated his account on X.”
The resit results were approved after a nationwide meeting of JAMB’s Chief External Examiners. The meeting was chaired by Professor Olufemi Peters, Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria. The board said the results were endorsed based on a psychometric analysis conducted by Professor Boniface Nworgu.
As part of the post-exam review, JAMB raised serious concerns about widespread examination malpractice involving candidates, school proprietors, and CBT centre operators.
“The meeting condemned the involvement of some CBT centres in perpetrating serious registration and examination malpractices and resolved that all the implicated CBT centres should be blacklisted, while complicit owners should be prosecuted,” the board said.
It also noted that individuals who were found to have registered candidates with manipulated pictures and biometric data would be identified and handed over for prosecution.
JAMB also decided to release the results of under-aged candidates whose performances fell below the set standard, despite their earlier agreement that they would not qualify for admission. “As part of the healing process, the meeting resolved that the withheld results of under-age candidates (except where litigation is involved), who performed below the established standards, be released,” the board said. However, it reiterated that such results “do not qualify them for admission.”
In another decision, the board announced a one-time waiver for candidates who were involved in exam-related online malpractice, including those who used social media platforms like WhatsApp to seek illicit assistance.
“This category of candidates were found to have been involved in illicit solicitation of assistance. The meeting emphasised that its decision is not an endorsement of candidates’ unacceptable acts, but rather a once and for all waiver,” the board stated.
The board warned candidates to stay away from “questionable WhatsApp and other anti-social groups.”
JAMB also criticised tutorial centres that play a role in promoting malpractice and called on the government to introduce regulatory oversight on such institutions. “Unregulated tutorial centres aiding examination fraud must be brought under control,” the board warned.
The board expressed concern about attempts by some groups to politicise the technical failure that affected the initial UTME, warning that tribal narratives could deepen existing divisions. “The meeting expressed with regret the attempts by some groups to exploit the unfortunate incident to disseminate tribal and sectional narratives,” the statement read.
JAMB said all results have now been released except those withheld due to examination infractions or scheduled for mop-up exams. The board also mentioned that some already released results are being withdrawn based on ongoing investigations involving security agencies.
“Recent discoveries, particularly by the security agencies, have necessitated the withdrawal of some of the results of implicated candidates across the country whose results had been previously released,” it said.
Despite the challenges, the board reaffirmed its commitment to the Computer-Based Test (CBT) system and announced that consultants will be engaged to improve future registration processes.
