The South East Caucus in the House of Representatives has called for the resignation of the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, over the glitches in the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The Leader of the Caucus, Hon. Igariwey Enwo in a statement issued Monday noted that the response of JAMB had been grossly inadequate.
The caucus cited poor communication, scheduling conflicts with ongoing WAEC examinations, and the short notice given for the resit, adding that the situation has caused unnecessary trauma for students and families.
It reminded JAMB of its constitutional duty to guarantee equal and adequate educational opportunities for all Nigerian children, a responsibility it said had clearly been violated in this instance.
While acknowledging Oloyede’s public admission of the failure, the caucus maintained that accountability must go beyond apologies.
It insisted that his resignation would allow for a thorough, independent review of the failure and restore public confidence in the examination body.
Against this background, the caucus called for the immediate cancellation of the 2025 UTME and the fixing of a new date, preferably after WAEC and NECO examinations to ensure no student is disadvantaged.
The caucus also demanded the suspension of key officials responsible for JAMB’s digital operations and logistics.
It added that JAMB’s knee-jerk, fire-brigade approach has been anything but adequate. Students in the South East — many of whom are currently writing their WAEC examinations — were given less than 48 hours’ notice to appear for the rescheduled UTME.
It noted that reports indicate that this notice was grossly inadequate, resulting in low turnout.
It explained that in some cases, the rescheduled UTME clashed directly with ongoing WAEC papers, compounding the distress and confusion for students and their families.
It stated: “As a result of the above reasons and many more, we call for a total cancellation of the 2025 UTME examinations, and a new date fixed for same across the country.
“To this end, we call for the immediate suspension of those at the commanding heights of JAMB’s digital operations and examination logistics.
“The Registrar of JAMB is said to be a good man, but then, leadership must carry consequences. We, therefore, call on the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, to do the needful, by resigning his appointment, to pave way for a thorough examination and remediation of the root causes of this national shame. That’s the way to go in any civilised democracy, and we expect no less.”