… as firm demands cancellation
In the face of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result, the Chambers of Evans Ufeli, a public interest law firm, has threatened legal action against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Evans Ufeli, who led the firm in a petition following what it described as widespread failure and systemic breakdown addressed to Ish’qua Oloyede, the registrar of JAMB, the firm cited numerous cases of technical malfunctions, poor logistics, and alleged safety breaches, which it claimed, severely compromised the credibility and fairness of the examination process.
Fabian Benjamin, the spokesman at JAMB, had on Friday, May 10 explained that the more than 78 percent of candidates scored less than 200 points out of the 400 maximum obtainable points reflected the performance of the students.
The law firm alleged that the conditions under which the 2025 UTME was conducted rendered it unjust and detrimental to the mental well-being and academic future of many candidates.
Read also: 2025 UTME is Nigeria’s third-worst performance since 2016
Besides, Ufeli, who signed the petition as both a legal practitioner and education advocate, emphasised that the early scheduling of examinations where candidates, many of whom are minors, were reportedly instructed to arrive at examination centres as early as 6:00 a.m. as one of the issues noticed the conduct of the examination.
According to the statement, all these subjected candidates, especially the young ones to undue stress and physical exhaustion before their examinations even began.
“This instruction caused anxiety, fatigue and confusion among 15 to 16-year-olds who were already grappling with exam tension,” the statement read in part.
Moreover, the petition purported that some candidates were reported missing during the course of the examination period. This, the legal firm leader described as a serious failure on JAMB’s part to guarantee the safety and security of adolescents placed in the board’s care.
“Such incidents expose deep flaws in the planning and execution of the UTME and raise serious concerns about the ability of JAMB to safeguard the lives of the candidates,” Ufeli said.
In addition, the firm cited lengthy delays in the commencement of examinations at many centres. These delays, the firm claimed, led to heightened anxiety levels among candidates and, in some cases, disrupted examination schedules altogether.
Hence, the legal firm is asking that JAMB immediately cancel the 2025 UTME results and conduct a fresh round of examinations under improved conditions.
“This examination, as conducted, failed to uphold the principles of justice, fairness, and transparency. It must be set aside and a new one organised under conditions that meet acceptable standards,” the statement stressed.
The legal firm leader insists that if the tertiary institutions entrance examination umpire board fails to act on the demands, his chambers will have no choice but to seek redress in court.
“Should JAMB fail to address these grave concerns, we will be compelled to initiate legal proceedings to protect the rights and futures of the affected candidates,” he warned.
