99% Scores Below 200 in Resit UTME – JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has revealed that there were no high scorers in the just concluded resit exam of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in the five states of the South East and Lagos State affected by technical glitches.

The board explained in a statement on Sunday that “only a handful scored up to 217 in the affected sessions, while 99% scored below 200 marks, indicating that there were no high scorers in the cancelled sessions of the affected six states.”

JAMB said the explanation became necessary following those it referred to as “opportunists”, throwing “misleading questions” at it regarding candidates who allegedly scored highly in the cancelled sessions and might desire to retain their previous results.

Noting that opportunists are on the prowl, the Board in the explanation contained in the statement that announced the release of the rescheduled UTME results, particularly said, “The misleading questions posed by certain individuals regarding candidates who allegedly scored highly in the cancelled sessions who might desire to retain their previous results are totally unfounded as only a handful scored up to 217 in the affected sessions, while 99% scored below 200 marks — indicating that there were no high scorers in the cancelled sessions of the affected six states.”

“It is not unexpected that given our circumstances, some opportunistic and mischievous individuals may attempt to exploit the situation for personal gain, thereby attempting to discredit not only the CBT process but also the Board itself,” it added.

According to JAMB, “A notable example is Mr. Olisa Gabriel Chukwuemeka, a first-year Public Health student at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, who posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) under the handle @swagpriest2, falsely claimed to have achieved a score of 326 in the 2025 UTME.

“This claim incited public outrage against the Board and was subsequently disseminated by various online platforms.

Upon investigation, the Board found Mr. Olisa’s assertions to be entirely fabricated as he had doctored his original 2024 UTME score of 203, misrepresenting it as a 2025 UTME result with a score of 326.

“In reality, he sat for the 2025 UTME in Lagos State, where his actual score (prior to withdrawal) was 180. Following the exposure of his deceit, Mr. Olisa deactivated his account on X. There are similar cases of opportunistic attempts,” it explained.

The board disclosed that, “All results are now released except those of candidates who committed examination infractions and those slated for mop-up examinations.”

“While releasing the results, it should be emphasised that recent discoveries particularly by the security agencies have necessitated the withdrawal of some of the results of implicated candidates across the country whose results have been previously released.

“Candidates with earlier released results need not recheck their results as candidates affected by the withdrawal are being notified through text messages on their registered lines, their profiles and emails,” it said.

The board emphasised that the charges for shortcode of 55019/66019 (text messages) does not generate revenue to JAMB as “being ignorantly peddled.”

“The shortcode approach is to protect the critical data of the candidates and to curtail their cybercafé-extortion during their desperate check for results. JAMB has no reason to make money from such a service; rather, it subsidises the shortcode services and text messages to candidates,” it highlighted.

Commenting on the menace of malpractices, JAMB said,” While some Nigerians are busy dissipating energies on conspiracy theories and spread of hatred, our future is being put in jeopardy by advanced levels of digitalised fraud.”

The board’s statement read further: “During the 2025 examinations, further high level malpractices were uncovered, which led to the withdrawal of some results and the arrest of several culprits across the country some of whom we understand have made useful confessions.

These unwholesome practices include: Collusion of certain CBT centre/school proprietors (with the connivance of accredited centres) to hack the networks of targeted CBT centres, thereby gaining control of candidates’ computers and remotely submitting their responses to the relevant local server of the centre as recently discovered by the security agencies to whom we are profoundly grateful.

It is important to note that each of the 882 centres utilised by the Board operates on a separate local server, and some of which had their local area network and servers compromised. The central server of JAMB remains secure and impervious to such breaches.

“AI-enabled photo blending of candidates with impersonators, many of whom are current undergraduate students; Registration with combined fingers, which involves the combination of fingerprints from multiple persons for a single candidate’s registration; Extension of Local Area Networks (LAN) from centres to remote “strong rooms.”

“Pairing of candidates with professional mercenaries (after willful disruption of sitting arrangements) who had registered for the UTME for the purpose of access to the examination hall. Unfortunately, many undergraduates of tertiary institutions are found to be involved in this nefarious practice.

“Over three thousand candidates nationwide have been identified as either accomplices or beneficiaries of this extraordinary examination fraud. As investigation progresses, all candidates implicated in these unwholesome activities will have their results withdrawn as soon as incontrovertible proofs are established, even if the results have been released.”

The board thanked security agencies for their support and commendable efforts in apprehending culprits involved in the rising menace of examination malpractice.

It also extended appreciation to the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, for its kind provision of a window for the 2025 UTME resit examination; Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) and National Examinations Council (for BECE) for their support in rescheduling their examinations to accommodate the resit examination.

“We also commend the resilience of the candidates.

While thanking the governments and the good people of Nigeria, JAMB assures the nation of continuous sincere and dedicated service,” the statement added