THE JAMB AND WAEC FIASCO: DEMAND FOR URGENT THOROUGH INVESTIGATION BY THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

May 31, 2025
11:58 am

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) recently released the results of the examinations it conducted for students seeking admission into higher institutions in Nigeria for tertiary education.

There were complaints from many of the students and their parents about the scores given them by JAMB. It was reported that a 19-year-old, Miss Timilehin Faith Opesusi from Abeokuta but resident in Lagos State committed suicide for getting a low score in the 2025 UTME.

The Registrar of JAMB, Professor Oloyede while addressing the press admitted that JAMB’s computer systems were hacked and compromised, and this led to the cancellation of the results of 379,997 candidates that sat for the 2025 UTME in 157 centres in Lagos and the South Eastern part of Nigeria.

The West Africa Examination Council in trying to outdo JAMB, is also currently conducting its West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSC) for Secondary school students all over Nigeria.

The discomforting news from the various examination centres have been that of shock, disbelief and disrespect to the rights of students. Apparently, for the first time in Nigeria, reports from several examination halls in the various States indicated that students were forced to write examinations in the night and in some other cases up to 9pm with the aid of candles and torchlight of phones, for those that could afford them.

The examination halls were in dark. The invigilators were also seen using torchlight from their phones. The English Language Paper 2 & 3 that were originally scheduled for 4pm on the 28th of May, 2025 ended up starting about 7pm same day. Many students and schools expressed their frustrations about the extended time which led to fatigue and the associated security implications.

Two days ago, at Government Secondary School, Namnai in Gassol Local Government of Taraba State, a classroom building collapsed while students were still writing the WASSC examination at about 6pm. They only narrowly escaped death. Students, teachers and invigilators were trapped in the rubble and it took the effort of members of the local community to rescue them. The injured amongst them were taken to the hospital.

It is very concerning that a new trend of impunity is now emerging from institutions that ought to be leading the way for a better Nigeria. The right to education is a constitutional right and more importantly, the right to treat Nigerian students with dignity and respect is a guaranteed fundamental right every student owns by being a Nigerian.

The conduct of examinations under shambolic and inclement conditions is unacceptable as it will affect the students’ preparation for the examinations. No sane human being should be compelled to sit for an examination that was advertised to be conducted in the daytime but ended up being done in the night, well outside the time published by the examination body.

WAEC did not advertise that its examinations will be conducted in the night in halls where there would be no adequate facilities like power and security.

The students never contracted with WAEC to sit for examinations in the night. Any examination conducted under such circumstance is already compromised and amounts to a breach of the students’ contractual rights and sections 34 and 39 of the Constitution guaranteeing their right to respect for the dignity of their persons and freedom to receive knowledge, ideas and information.

Since the occurrence of these incidents, no statement or intervention has been made by the Federal Ministry of Education, which is the supervisory Ministry for both JAMB and WAEC. Public officials must be held accountable for every dereliction and how they exercise of their official powers.

JAMB and WAEC in their latest examination exercises, have therefore, failed to discharge their statutory responsibilities with all sense of responsibilities and respect for the students; and these unfortunate incidents have further stained our educational sector, thereby, further de-marketing the country in the comity of nations.

We therefore, call upon the leadership of the National Assembly (the Senate and the House of Representatives) to urgently set up a joint Committee to investigate the circumstances that led to these unfortunate incidents occasioned by the two examination bodies and ensure that those persons responsible face the consequences of their actions. The absence of consequences will only lead to a re-occurrence that may be worse.