Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, on Wednesday, announced a fresh round of mop-up examinations to accommodate the over 5.6 per cent of candidates who missed the just-concluded 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed this during a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja.
According to Oloyede, the initiative will cover all affected candidates, regardless of the reason for their absence.
The JAMB registrar said, “This time, we are creating a new mop-up. Even those who missed the earlier exam due to absence will get another opportunity.
“It’s not extraordinary. In any serious system, when students miss an exam, they’re allowed to make up—provided there’s no abuse.”
Oloyede stressed that the UTME is a placement test, not a measure of intelligence or academic potential. “Its purpose is to rank candidates for limited admission slots, not to test how smart someone is,” he clarified.
Oloyede vehemently rejected claims of ethnic bias or administrative incompetence about the examination process.
He said, “I take responsibility, not because I failed, but because that’s leadership.
“I didn’t even realise people viewed issues around me through ethnic lenses. We must rise above such profiling.”
Oloyede also praised both candidates and staff for their resilience amid logistical difficulties.
“We had limited space. We knew if we wasted more time grieving the challenges, students would lose their opportunity,” he said.
The date for the special mop-up exam will be announced soon.
JAMB expressed commitment to transparency and fairness in admissions.
