The South East Senate Caucus has criticized the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), led by Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, for the UTME exam glitch that impacted thousands of students, particularly those in the Southeast.
The lawmakers from 5 southeastern states including Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, the lawmaker representing Abia South senatorial district of Abia State at the senate, questioned why the UTME exam glitch mostly affected Southeast centres.
The lawmakers led by Abaribe, the Chairman of the southeast Senate Caucus described the development as ‘curious and highly suspicious’.
They blamed it on “injecting hateful politics and narrow parochial considerations in both policy enunciation and its implementations”.
This was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by the Southeast Senate Caucus.
Abaribe said: “The so-called glitch, as curious and suspicious as it was, is enough to erode confidence and dangerously lower national pride among the future generation.
“The relevant national education drivers must recognise the inherent danger of injecting hateful politics and narrow parochial considerations in both policy enunciation and its implementations.
“That the glitch happened in the whole of South East raises pertinent questions that must be answered by JAMB to assuage the growing frustrations and fears among the people of the region, particularly the children who are directly at the receiving end.
“We must pursue a Nigerian agenda and not a narrow one that will ultimately injure national unity.
“Education remains one of the most important bedrocks of any society’s advancement.
“It is one major index of development in every facet of life that can never be faulted.
“Education is a major pivot that triggers national development. Every child is entitled to it; therefore, we must not play roulette with it.”
This comes after Oloyede admitted that the examination body received several complaints about technical glitches during the 2025 UTME exam.
Oloyede addressing a press conference last Wednesday, admitted that a review of the process exposed the UTME exam glitch.
He announced that about 379,997 candidates in the just concluded 2025 examination would retake the examination.
Oloyede, who wept profusely, intermittently wiping his face with a handkerchief, said he took full responsibility for the negligence of its staff, revealing that 65 centres in Lagos and 92 centres in Owerri Zone covering the five states in the South East, would rewrite the exam.
“We have identified a JAMB system error that affected a significant number of candidates. To ensure fairness, these candidates will retake the examination at no cost,” Oloyede stated.
