UTME Errors: Why an Education Expert Is Demanding Urgent JAMB Reforms”

Following the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) recent admission of errors in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), education consultant Julius Opara is calling for a major review of how the exams are conducted. He’s also pushing for stronger accountability measures for JAMB staff and officials.

Opara didn’t hold back, calling the incident a serious blow to the credibility of JAMB. He stressed the need to ensure that mistakes of this scale don’t happen again.

You might remember that JAMB had to schedule a resit exam for nearly 380,000 candidates due to technical glitches. These affected test centers in Lagos and across the South-East states.

At a recent press briefing in Abuja, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede revealed the scope of the issue: 206,610 candidates were impacted across 65 centers in Lagos, while 173,387 students were affected across 92 centers in the South-East.

In response, Opara called for immediate improvements to JAMB’s quality control process. He recommended adopting automated grading systems to minimize human error and prevent future mishaps.

He also raised concerns about how this disruption could affect students mentally, especially those who had to retake the exam. To avoid similar issues down the line, he urged JAMB to regularly update and maintain its systems.

“These recent errors show just how important it is to have strong quality checks and a solid maintenance routine,” Opara said. “We have a serious maintenance problem in Nigeria. JAMB has taken responsibility, which is good—but an apology isn’t enough. The real work lies in fixing the root of the problem.”