A final audit of the results of the 379,775 candidates who say the rescheduled 2025 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination is being conducted ahead of the final release to the public on Thursday.

The audit team includes officials from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Civil Societies Organisations, academics and other independent observers.

A source, who did not want to be named for lack of authorisation, disclosed the development to our correspondent after the press briefing which announced the completion of the resit.

JAMB spokesman Dr. Fabian Benjamin, had on Monday, told The PUNCH that the results of the resit UTME would be released on Wednesday.

Findings by our correspondent on Wednesday, however, revealed that the results were being audited, hence, the reason they were not released on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, JAMB, on Wednesday, announced a fresh round of mop-up examinations to accommodate the over 5.6 per cent of candidates who missed the just-concluded 2025 UTME.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said the initiative would cover all affected candidates?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,? he 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 emphasised that the UTME is a placement test, not a measure of intelligence or academic potential.

?Its purpose is to rank candidates for limited admission slots, not to test how smart someone is,? he clarified.

Addressing growing criticism and conspiracy theories about the examination process, Oloyede firmly rejected claims of ethnic bias or administrative incompetence.

?I take responsibility, not because I failed, but because that?s leadership,? he stated. ?I didn?t even realise people viewed issues around me through ethnic lenses. We must rise above such profiling.?

He praised both candidates and staff for their resilience amid logistical difficulties. ?We had limited space. We knew if we wasted more time grieving the challenges, students would lose their opportunity,? he said.

The special mop-up exam will be scheduled soon, and JAMB says it remains committed to transparency and fairness in admissions.

South-West Reps back Oloyede

Meanwhile, members of the House of Representatives from the South-West have countered the demand for JAMB registrar?s resignation by the South-East caucus.

The 2025 UTME exercise was seriously affected by a technical failure, which prevented approximately 379,000 candidates from completing the exam, putting their aspirations for higher education at risk.

Oloyede publicly accepted responsibility for the issue, tearfully apologising to the affected candidates and their parents last week, and promising to take steps to prevent a recurrence of such errors.

Despite this, the South-East caucus in the House, in a statement signed by Iduma Igariwey (PDP, Ebonyi), demanded Oloyede?s resignation, describing the situation as a ?catastrophic institutional failure? by JAMB.

The lawmakers argued that most of those impacted by the technical glitch come from the South-East geopolitical zone.

They criticised the board?s response as inadequate, citing poor communication, scheduling conflicts with ongoing WAEC examinations, and insufficient notice given for the resit.

These factors, they claim, have caused undue distress for students and their families.

?As a caucus, we are deeply concerned as all five South-Eastern states we represent were directly affected by these ?score distortions.??

The caucus demanded the suspension of key officials responsible for JAMB?s digital operations and logistics.

They added:?While we appreciate Prof. Oloyede?s openness in admitting JAMB?s failures, the remedial steps taken so far fall drastically short of our constituents? expectations.

However, some notable lawmakers from the South-West have rejected the South-East caucus?s call for Oloyede?s resignation, describing it as excessive.

Oluwole Oke, a five-time House member representing Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency, told The PUNCH exclusively that the JAMB Registrar is ?just too clean? to deliberately orchestrate such a glitch that now threatens his position.

He said: ?The call for resignation is very mischievous. Prof. Oloyede is one of Nigeria?s most transparent and upright public servants. As chairman of the House Public Accounts Committee, I investigated JAMB operations and can attest that Prof. Oloyede is beyond reproach.

?Yes, something went wrong under his leadership, but he admitted the mistake and apologized publicly. What else do we want from him??

Oke?s stance was echoed by his Lagos counterpart, Wale Raji, who wondered why the South-East lawmakers are calling for the JAMB Registrar?s head when many students in Lagos State were equally affected.

Raji said: ?The incident was unfortunate, but it affected the Lagos zone more than the South-East. The Registrar of JAMB, however, did the uncommon in Nigerian public service by openly admitting the mistake, tendering a heartfelt apology, and arranging for affected students to retake the exam.

?With this, Prof. Oloyede has set a standard for public officials in similar situations to follow. The call by the South-East is uncalled for and condemnable.?

Attempts to get a reaction from the Chairman of the South-West Caucus in the House, James Faleke, were unsuccessful as he did not answer calls or respond to WhatsApp messages. (The PUNCH)

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