The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has called for the immediate review of all available technical and independent reports including those from third-party by JAMB.
He made the call at a Press Briefing on the 2025 JAMB UTME Technical Crisis, in Abuja.
He said that the events surrounding the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) have shaken public confidence in one of Nigeria’s most critical gateways to opportunity.
Sympathizing with affected candidates—particularly the young girl who tragically took her own life following the release of her UTME results—Kalu called for deliberate efforts to support and protect all impacted students.
“Now that the rescheduled examinations have concluded, I urge JAMB to commission an independent, transparent audit of its entire examination infrastructure,” Kalu stated.
“This audit should involve external professionals, system engineers, and academic measurement experts to scrutinize every aspect of the CBT engine, question delivery, answer validation, and result collation processes.
He emphasized that only a thorough, external examination of the board’s systems would ensure that no affected candidate is left behind.
The Deputy Speaker expressed concern for candidates from the South-East and Lagos, who were most affected by the technical failures, insisting that they must not suffer further disadvantages.
“JAMB must provide a clear, accessible mechanism for remark and appeal—particularly for those dissatisfied with the resit or who encountered technical issues during the second sitting,” he said.
There must also be continued coordination with WAEC and other examination bodies to avoid scheduling conflicts that could hinder candidates’ academic progression.”
Kalu further demanded that JAMB publish anonymized, candidate-level result data for independent verification and open its systems to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests as a demonstration of transparency and accountability.
He urged the board to implement stronger deployment validation protocols and real-time monitoring mechanisms to prevent future occurrences.
The deputy Speaker commended the Registrar of JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede, for his honesty and courage in admitting the board’s technical errors and offering retakes for over 379,000 affected candidates in Lagos and the South-East.
“The Registrar’s candour, humility, and swift apology reflect a commendable commitment to fairness and justice,” Kalu noted.
“However, we must acknowledge that while these measures are necessary, they do not erase the trauma and uncertainty experienced by affected candidates and their families.”
He explained that JAMB had introduced three major changes in 2025: A switch from count-based to source-based analysis of examination responses; Full-scale shuffling of questions and answers to boost test security; Systemic upgrades to improve performance and reduce lag during exams.
However, while the system updates were correctly deployed in the Kaduna zone, the Lagos cluster—which covers Lagos and the South-East—was left running outdated software that couldn’t process the new answer logic.
He concluded by reassuring candidates that the National Assembly stands ready to provide oversight to ensure that necessary reforms are implemented and that trust in the nation’s education system is fully restored.
