The Pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has kicked against the decision of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to conduct a fresh examination for candidates affected by the ‘errors’ in the 2025 United Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

This came after JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, admitted that errors led to the low scores and the glitches observed by candidates in the five South-East states, and Lagos State.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Mr Oloyede, who apologised for the errors, stated that a total of 379,997 candidates in 157 examination centres would be rescheduled for another Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

He said, “As registrar of JAMB, I hold myself personally responsible, and I unreservedly apologise for the trauma it has subjected Nigerians to, directly and indirectly. We burnt the midnight oil, but despite everything, an error happened. It is a classical manifestation of the axiom that man proposes, but God disposes.’’

Reacting to the issue through a statement on Thursday, the youth wing of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide said conducting a fresh examination was unacceptable.

The National President of Ohanaeze, Nnabuike Okwu, who signed the statement, said it was a disservice for JAMB to subject the candidates to “another round of mental torture, stress, and risk” for no fault of theirs.

He also demanded that 300 scores be awarded to affected candidates from the South-East, warning that should JAMB fail to meet their demands, the group would take legal action against the board.

Mr Okwu stated, “We want to state unequivocally that our people will not accept any fresh examination, having already been subjected to mental torture by JAMB. The candidates are not in the right frame of mind to undergo another examination, having been faced with mental torture ever since the fake results were announced. Besides, who is going to bear the cost? The same parents who are facing severe financial challenges? What of the risk of moving to the examination locations, in a country ravaged by insecurity?”

“Having said this, we demand that JAMB should allocate a 300 score to all the South-East candidates affected by its own error, not that of the candidates. Igbo are very brilliant people and could have made 300 and above. It was a deliberate design to punish the people of the South-East, clearly to deny them education opportunities. Should JAMB fail to heed our request, we shall not hesitate to drag them to court; no form of crocodile tears by the registrar will save the Board.”

The Board earlier announced that out of the 1.9 million candidates who took the examination, over 1.5 million scored below 200 out of 400.