 and the Federal Ministry of Education for their poor handling of technical issues that affected the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).){kind=link}
Former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has criticised the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Federal Ministry of Education for their poor handling of technical issues that affected the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Her reaction followed the emotional apology from JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who broke down in tears during a Wednesday press briefing while addressing the errors in the recently released UTME results.
He announced that students affected by the glitches would be given the opportunity to sit for the exam again.
Ezekwesili, in a post shared via her X account on Thursday, expressed disappointment that JAMB failed to address early complaints in a timely and transparent manner.
She questioned why the examination body did not immediately investigate anomalies when they were first raised.
“Why didn’t the authorities respond with humility and initiate an impartial, technical review as soon as irregularities were noticed, instead of dismissing those who raised concerns?” she asked.
The former minister further criticised the responses provided by both JAMB and the Ministry of Education, particularly regarding unusual result patterns reported in the South-East region.
She described the explanation given by officials as lacking evidence and professionalism.
“Handling technical issues requires expertise and integrity — both of which have been eroded by a system dominated by dishonest and incompetent figures,” she stated.
To reinforce her concerns, Ezekwesili shared screenshots of her past tweets from 2018 and 2023. In one of them, she mocked a former education minister for focusing more on JAMB’s revenue generation than on ensuring the credibility of its examination systems, saying such a minister should have been reassigned to a toll gate.
In another post referencing the 2023 case of Anambra student Mmesoma Ejikeme — accused by JAMB of inflating her UTME score — Ezekwesili had previously advocated for a detailed, independent technology-driven investigation to uncover the truth.
Her renewed criticism has added momentum to public calls for accountability in Nigeria’s examination and education sectors, especially regarding the integrity of computer-based testing systems.