By Peter Omopo
The South-East Caucus in the House of Representatives has called for the cancellation of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), citing widespread irregularities and what it described as a “catastrophic institutional failure” by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Leading the charge is Hon. Iduma Igariwey, who made the demand during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday. Igariwey argued that the credibility of the examination had been compromised, leaving many candidates who prepared diligently unable to sit for the test under fair conditions.
“The whole thing has lost its integrity. It has lost its fairness,” he said. “People who took the time and prepared for exams were no longer in a position to take those exams. We are saying the exam must be cancelled so the right thing can be done from the start.”
His comments follow JAMB’s recent announcement that nearly 400,000 candidates would be required to retake the UTME due to what it termed a combination of “technical glitches” and “human errors” that marred the initial exercise.
Igariwey noted that the caucus had been measured in its response, choosing to react only after JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, publicly addressed the issues on May 14. “We were very restrained in taking a decision,” he said. “But now it’s clear that sweeping these failures under the carpet is unacceptable.”
The call for cancellation is expected to stir further national debate on examination integrity and the accountability of public institutions overseeing education.
