The South-East Caucus in the House of Representatives has called for the total cancellation of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), citing widespread disruptions and what it termed a “catastrophic institutional failure” on the part of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Leading the call, Hon. Iduma Igariwey, who represents the caucus, made the demand during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday. He criticized JAMB for allegedly compromising the integrity and fairness of the examination process.
“The whole thing has lost its integrity,” Igariwey stated. “People who took time to prepare for the exam were prevented from writing it. We are saying the exam should be cancelled so that the proper thing can be done.”
The call follows JAMB’s acknowledgment that approximately 400,000 candidates would have to retake the UTME due to what the board described as a “technical glitch” and
“human error.” The affected students were asked to retake the exam on May 16—just two days after the announcement.Igariwey criticized the short notice, noting that many students were unable to attend the rescheduled sessions. “We received reports from across our constituencies that many candidates were stranded and couldn’t make it to the examination centers,” he said.
He also expressed concern that JAMB had failed to adequately explain the cause of the disruption or assure the public that the issues had been resolved. “You can’t just reschedule an exam without telling Nigerians what went wrong or how it was fixed,” he argued.
Earlier, the South-East Caucus issued a formal statement demanding the resignation of JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, and the complete cancellation of the 2025 UTME.
During a press briefing on May 14, Prof. Oloyede acknowledged the disruptions and offered an apology, saying, “We are human; we are not perfect.”
