Don’t Sabotage JAMB! Kalu Sounds Alarm Over Rising Exam Irregularities

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ben Kalu, has emphasized that the credibility of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) must never be undermined by technical glitches or human errors.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday regarding the 2025 JAMB UTME technical crisis, Kalu clarified that the glitches encountered were not due to candidate negligence or sabotage, but stemmed from avoidable internal system errors.

He expressed concern that the incidents surrounding this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) have eroded public trust in one of Nigeria’s most vital educational institutions.

Kalu highlighted that the public outrage following the release of the results, along with the technical evaluation that ensued, calls for not just transparency, but firm action to restore confidence in the examination process.

While acknowledging the prompt apology issued by JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Kalu noted that the gesture does not fully address the emotional toll and uncertainty endured by affected candidates and their families.

“To all affected students – your concerns are valid, and your voices have been heard. We must ensure that the integrity of our national examinations is safeguarded from preventable errors,” he said.

In light of these issues, the Deputy Speaker urged JAMB to conduct an independent and transparent audit of its examination infrastructure. He recommended the inclusion of external professionals, IT system engineers, and academic assessment experts in the review process to thoroughly evaluate the Computer-Based Testing (CBT) system, including question delivery, answer validation, and result collation mechanisms.

Furthermore, Kalu called on JAMB to implement robust deployment protocols and real-time monitoring tools to ensure such failures are not repeated in future examinations.