The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has strongly opposed the decision by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to conduct a resit examination for candidates in the South-East and Lagos who were affected by errors in the recently released Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, announced on Wednesday that errors in the marking process led to unusually low scores for candidates in five South-East states and Lagos. As a result, the board said it would contact all affected candidates from 157 examination centers to retake their exams starting Friday, May 16, 2025. Candidates are expected to receive notifications via text messages, emails, and phone calls.
However, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council President, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, described the move as “totally unacceptable.” In a statement issued Thursday, Okwu criticized JAMB for subjecting students to what he called “another round of mental torture, stress, and risk” through no fault of their own.
“We want to state unequivocally that our people will not accept any fresh examination, having already been subjected to mental torture by JAMB,” Okwu said. “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?”
Okwu further demanded that JAMB should allocate a score of 300 to all affected South-East candidates, arguing that the error was on the part of the examination board, not the students. “Igbos 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,” he said.
The youth leader warned that if JAMB fails to meet their demand, the organization would not hesitate to take legal action. “Should JAMB fail to heed to our request, we shall not hesitate to drag them to court; no form of crocodile tears by the Registrar will save the Board,” Okwu stated.
JAMB has not yet responded to Ohanaeze’s demands. The situation remains tense as affected candidates and their families await further instructions from the examination body.
