John Nwobodo & Associates, a law company, has formally requested that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) provide the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) questions and answers for more than 1.5 million applicants who earned a score of less than 200.
This comes after worries about the test’s record-breaking failure rate, which saw over 70% of applicants receive scores below the 200-point cutoff.
The law company, which claims to be representing 1,534,654 candidates, expressed concern about probable inconsistencies in the results, speculating that JAMB’s software might have malfunctioned.
The company claims that the candidates’ scores ranged widely, from less than 100 to 160 to 199, and that some of the worst performances cast doubt on the validity of the test.
In their letter to JAMB, the solicitors said:
“The above scenario has cast a shadow of doubt over the integrity of the software deployed by the Board in administering and marking the questions.
Unfortunately, the system is programmed in a way that candidates are only able to view their scores against each subject and the aggregate thereof.
Moreover, the development has put your Board on the spotlight that the need for accountability at this point and going forward becomes imperative and non-negotiable.”
The lawyers called for transparency and accountability, requesting JAMB to release the full set of questions and answers for each candidate to allow for self-evaluation.
“In the circumstance, the transparency and accountability required of the Board entail a reconfiguration of your system to not only display the aggregate score of the candidates but also the questions and the corresponding answers.
The approach would either validate the results as published by the Board, thus earning the Board much more respect and public trust and clearing the candidates’ doubt, or it may produce a result necessitating the implementation of appropriate reforms to strengthen the integrity of the examination.”
The law firm emphasised that their clients are ready to pursue legal action if JAMB fails to comply with the request, underscoring their commitment to ensuring that the examination results are accurate and fair.
“Take notice that we have the instruction of our clients to explore every legal avenue to seek justice for the aggrieved candidates.
Accordingly, we would be glad to cooperate with you on any measures that would help to clear any doubts in the minds of the candidates regarding their actual performance in the 2025 UTME.”
The letter concluded by requesting a prompt response from JAMB in line with the timelines outlined in the Freedom of Information Act.
