JAMB ERRORS: Oloyede fighting exam malpractices, he should be encouraged – Laolu Akande Ex-Presidential Spokesman
By KEMI KASUMU and OUR REPORTER
One of prominent journalism figures and a Presidential Spokesman during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2023), Mr. Laolu Akande, has added his voice to the current solidarity in support of Registrar/Chief Executive of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Oloyede.
The DEFENDER reports that the widespread solidarity for Professor Oloyede is in appreciation of his humility, taking responsibility – as chief admission officer of the country – for the glitches that occurred in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) affecting scores over over 370,000 candidates at some JAMB accredited centres in parts of the country.
Commending Oloyede, also a former Chairman of the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) and Vice Chancellor University of Ilorin, Nigeria, for admitting to errors in the conduct of the 2025 UTME, Mr. Laolu Akande noted that the attitude makes the JAMB Registrar deserve encouragement to sustain his fight against examination malpractices in world’s most important black nation.
Professor Is-haq Oloyede, in a rare admission, told a news conference in Abuja earlier in the week that there were glitches in the recently conducted Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
His action has split opinions among Nigerians. But Laolu said the JAMB chief deserves commendation for the work he has done so far in the fight against examination malpractices.
“A lot of cheating is going on. We are having very troubling circumstances and situations where parents are paying for people to sit for their wards. It’s become a pandemic, and Oloyede is moving against that,” the former presidential spokesman said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily.
“And so we have to be careful not to let the people that are on the receiving end of that important reform use this occasion to push back against somebody like Oloyede or even the education minister, who is clearly also reform-minded.
“So my take is that: Oloyede has come out to say that, ‘Hey, this is, this is an embarrassment. I take responsibility’. Not many people would behave that way. So, we need to encourage him to continue to reform, and we need to encourage the minister,” he said.
JAMB’s admission of error in the 2025 results came after a flurry of backlash over the conduct of this year’s UTME – the entrance examination into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
Amid claims of glitches, unusually poor scores, and other issues, JAMB called for a review of the examination, after which it admitted to problems in the 2025 UTME.
Oloyede said that 379,997 candidates affected by the glitches would retake the UTME, beginning from May 16, 2025.
JAMB said the technical issue happened in 157 out of the 887 centres where the examination took place across the country, resulting in unusually low scores.
