The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to conduct a fresh mop-up examination for candidates who missed the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The announcement was made by JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, during a stakeholders’ meeting held on Wednesday in Abuja. He explained that the initiative is aimed at accommodating the 5.6 percent of candidates who were unable to participate in the recently concluded UTME, regardless of the reason for their absence.
“This time, we are creating a new mop-up. Even those who missed the earlier exam due to absence will get another opportunity,” Oloyede said. “It’s not extraordinary. In any serious system, when students miss an exam, they’re allowed to make up, provided there’s no abuse.”
Oloyede emphasized that the UTME is a ranking tool used to allocate limited admission slots, not a test of intelligence or academic ability.
“Its purpose is to rank candidates for limited admission slots, not to test how smart someone is,” he clarified.
Responding to criticisms and conspiracy theories surrounding the examination process, the registrar dismissed allegations of ethnic bias or administrative failure. “I take responsibility, not because I failed, but because that’s leadership,” he said. “I didn’t even realise people viewed issues around me through ethnic lenses. We must rise above such profiling.”
He also commended both candidates and JAMB staff for their efforts despite logistical challenges, noting that swift action was necessary to ensure students did not miss academic opportunities.
“We had limited space. We knew if we wasted more time grieving the challenges, students would lose their opportunity,” Oloyede added.
JAMB stated that the date for the special mop-up examination will be announced soon, and reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and fairness in the admission process.
Earlier, Tribune Online reported that 379,000 candidates sat for the rescheduled UTME, slightly fewer than the 379,997 candidates initially identified as affected by technical issues during the examination
