By Ayo Kehinde
The House of Representatives has directed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to establish computer-based test centres in the nation’s 774 local government areas.
It also urged the board to release all the results of the under sixteen age, who participated in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The directives followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved at plenary on Thursday by Morufu Adewale Adebayo, a member representing Irepodun, Olorunda, Oshogbo, Orolu of Osun State, who raised concerns about the challenges faced by candidates during the 2025 UTME.
JAMB Board admitted on Wednesday that technical errors affected the credibility of the 2025 UTME results.
Speaking at plenary on Thursday, the member representing Jibia Kaita Federal Constituency of Katsina State, Sada Soli, commended JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, for taking responsibility for the errors, noting that the Registrar appeared on national television, admitted the lapses, and apologised, an act rarely seen among public officials.
Soli recounted that during his past investigation of JAMB, the Registrar’s transparency and reforms had significantly improved the agency’s operations and revenue generation, growing from N1–2 billion to over N17 billion annually.
However, Hon. Olufemi Ogunbanwo called for a thorough investigation into the poor performance and logistical issues, questioning why some exams were scheduled for as early as 6:30 am, despite prevailing security concerns.
He also urged the House to compel JAMB to release the results of candidates under the age of 16, in line with an earlier House resolution, which directed the suspension of the policy barring under-16 candidates from admission.
Following an extensive debate, the house mandated its Committee on Appropriations to make provisions for the construction of CBT centres across the 774 LGAs in the 2026 budget. It also mandated the Committees on Basic Education, ICT, and other relevant stakeholders to work with JAMB to address technical glitches affecting the examination process.
The lawmakers emphasised that a wider and more equitable distribution of CBT centres would help prevent a recurrence of such challenges and ensure that every candidate, regardless of geography, has access to reliable testing infrastructure.
The House also appealed for calm among affected candidates and their families.
