The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has asked the national assembly to ensure those responsible for the fiasco in 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) are held accountable.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) have recently made headlines for the wrong reasons.
The results from the 2025 UTME were released on May 9. More than 78 percent of candidates scored less than 200 points out of the 400 maximum points obtainable.
This spurred protests that questioned the overall integrity of the examination process.
JAMB undertook an early review and uncovered a major “technical error”.
On April 14, Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB registrar, said the results of 379,997 candidates across 157 centres in its Lagos and south-east zones were affected.
He said the board discovered discrepancies linked to faulty server updates, which led to the failure to upload candidates’ responses during the first three days of the examination.
Oloyede said the problem, which was caused by one of the two technical service providers for the exercise, went undetected before the results were released.
JAMB later rescheduled the exams for the affected candidates, giving only 48 hours’ notice from the time he announced the technical glitch.
The development sparked mixed reactions, with members of the house of representatives from the south-east demanding the registrar’s resignation.
On Wednesday, there was widespread confusion across several examination centres in Nigeria as candidates sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) faced hours-long delays before writing the English Language paper.
At multiple locations, the test, scheduled at 9am, did not commence until 11:45pm. The disruption triggered anger among parents and sparked an online backlash.
The paper reportedly leaked online, prompting WAEC to replace it at the last minute.
The house of representatives is currently probing both incidents.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the NBA said the officials responsible for the incidents should held accountable.
“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 statement reads.
“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.”
The NBA said public officials must be held accountable for every dereliction of duty.
The association said JAMB and WAEC have “failed” to discharge their responsibilities, adding that the incidents have further demarketed the country.
The NBA asked the senate and house of representatives to set up a joint committee to investigate the “unfortunate incidents” and ensure those responsible face the consequences of their actions.
The association added that the absence of consequences will “lead to a reoccurrence that may be worse”.
The statement was signed by Afam Osigwe and Mobolaji Ojibara, NBA president and secretary, respectively.
