Regina Otokpa 
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially released results for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who announced the release of the results on Friday at the Board’s headquarters, noted that the results of 39,834 candidates have been withheld by JAMB due to suspected examination malpractices.
Oloyede further revealed that 80 candidates were currently under investigation for examination-related offences with Anambra State recording the highest number of suspects with 14 in total followed by Lagos State with 9 infractions and Delta State in third place with 8 infractions.
He said: “Out of the total number of 2,030,862 candidates registered for the 2025 UTME, 1,957,000 were successfully verified for the examination, 71,705 were absent and a total of 2,157 candidates’ fingerprints were rejected by the machines as invalid.
“This failure was beyond the acceptable normal margin of failure. Subsequent discoveries in this regard indicated that a number of the candidates whose fingers were unrecognised had one question of registration infraction or another to answer.”
“Each of these cases would be reviewed and determined on its merit. Of the 41,027 registered under-aged candidates, 40,260 sat for the examination, whose UTME results are being isolated for further tests to identify the normally few exceptional candidates. “Consequently, results for 1,911,551 candidates have been released which makes the available results to be 1.951, 811.”
He also disclosed that 467 underage candidates scored above the minimum benchmark, while 50 others were found to be involved in examination fraud.
“In compliance with regulations regarding the stipulated minimum admissible age, the Board restricted registration to candidates who meet the stipulated criteria. However, it provided an opportunity for acclaimed exceptionally-gifted candidates to demonstrate their abilities, provided their performance in UTME, SSCE, P-UTME and Gifted Candidate Test attest to their being exceptionally gifted.
“While we recognise that maturity is often correlated with biological age, we also acknowledge that there are exceptional cases. A total of 41,027 candidates registered under this underage category with assurance that they would face the consequences if they do not meet the prescribed score, and only 467 attained the minimum UTME score for exceptional candidates and they are being processed for the remaining 3 stages of assessment.
“The 466 successful candidates have been notified of their achievement, while those who do not meet the threshold are notified of their inability to meet the prescribed minimum score.”
Oloyede, who said there was a significant reduction in cases of examination infractions, however added that the Board remains resolute in its commitment to eliminating any form of examination malpractice,” he said.
