By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu
A heated controversy has erupted following the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) admission of technical failures in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), prompting the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide to demand automatic scores for affected candidates from the South-East rather than a resit.
JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, had acknowledged on Wednesday that technical glitches at several computer-based test centres led to widespread anomalies, particularly low scores among candidates in Lagos and the five South-East states. As a corrective step, JAMB announced plans to conduct a supplementary exam for those impacted.
But the Ohanaeze Youth Council has rejected the proposal outright, describing it as an insult and a further psychological burden on already traumatised students.
“The candidates are not in the right frame of mind to undergo another examination,” said the group’s National President, Maazi Okwu Nnabuike, in a statement issued on Thursday. “They have been mentally tortured since the fake results were released. Asking them to write another exam is unjust and unacceptable.”
Okwu argued that the affected students—many of whom had prepared intensely for the exam—should be compensated, not punished, for a failure that was entirely JAMB’s responsibility. He called for an automatic score of at least 300 to be awarded to every affected candidate from the South-East.
“Igbos are naturally brilliant and hardworking,” he said. “This glitch was a deliberate attempt to frustrate our children and deny them access to higher education. We will not allow it.”
Beyond mental stress, the group also raised concerns about the financial implications and security risks of asking candidates to travel again for another round of testing.
“Who is going to bear the cost? The same parents who are barely surviving in this economy? What about the safety of these children in a country battling insecurity?” Okwu asked.
He warned that if JAMB fails to grant the request, the group would seek redress in court. “No amount of crocodile tears by the Registrar will save the Board,” he said.
The demand has ignited a fresh debate on equity and fairness in Nigeria’s educational system, especially regarding how examination bodies handle regional complaints and systemic failures.
As pressure mounts, stakeholders are watching closely to see whether JAMB will amend its decision or face legal battles from aggrieved communities.