The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board said it will conduct additional mop-up examinations for candidates who missed the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a meeting with key stakeholders to address the challenges encountered during the 2025 UTME.

Mr Oloyede said that the board would accommodate the estimated 5.6 per cent of candidates who missed the examination by organising a special mop-up exercise.

He said that the board had extended the opportunity to all the affected candidates, regardless of the reasons for their absence.

He stated, “Normally, we hold one mop-up nationwide for those with one issue or the other. But this time, we are creating a new mop-up. Even those who missed the earlier examination due to absence, we will extend this opportunity to them. It is not that we are doing something extraordinary; in class, you make up an examination when students miss it for one reason or the other; we just don’t allow abuse of that. So, we will allow all the candidates who missed the main examination for any reason to take part in this mop-up.’’

Mr Oloyede criticised some public commentators who misunderstood and misrepresented the role of UTME, while clarifying that UTME was a placement test and not an achievement test.

According to him, the purpose of the examination is to rank candidates for available spaces in institutions and not to measure intelligence or overall academic potential.

The registrar further stated that a high UTME score was not the sole determinant of admission, adding that combined performance, including post-UTME scores and school assessments, could significantly affect a candidate’s ranking.

Acknowledging the emotional strain experienced while announcing the UTME results, he noted that it was not indicative of an institutional weakness.

He expressed JAMB’s commitment to resolving issues affecting the examination process, even as he rejected comments suggesting that the administrative failure was due to incompetence or ethnic bias.

“I want to say this clearly, particularly because I accepted responsibility, not because I do not know how to do the work. I say it for the fourth time that no conspiracy theory is relevant to this case. Something happened; like people who have been doing something well for years and something just went wrong. That I should now throw them under the bus? No,” he said.

Mr Oloyede, who frowned at those exploiting difficulties to promote ethnic or conspiracy-driven narratives, urged stakeholders to stop ethnic profiling in the education sector.

According to him, many of the criticisms of JAMB’s operations are rooted in ignorance.

The registrar, however, commended his team’s efforts, while also appreciating the resilience shown by candidates, many of whom, he said, continued their exams, notwithstanding the various challenges.

(NAN)