The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has revealed that over 40 individuals have been apprehended and are currently facing prosecution for impersonating candidates during the ongoing 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Meanwhile, several parents and guardians have voiced concerns over the 6:30am reporting time mandated for candidates, noting that many students are forced to travel long distances to reach their designated centres.
The 2025 UTME, which kicked off on Thursday, April 24, will continue until Monday, May 5, with over 2,030,627 candidates participating across accredited Computer-Based Test centres nationwide.
One Lagos-based mother, whose 14-year-old son was posted from Awoyaya in Lekki to a centre in Ikorodu, shared her distress, “The examination slip states that candidates are expected at the centre by 6.30am. So, that means my son must be on the road by 4 am. I don’t drive. We don’t have a car. He would have to take a bus. Even if I decide to go with him, how are we supposed to get a bus at that time, and how are we supposed to get to Ikorodu before 6.30am?
“This is wickedness. JAMB should look into this and move the exam forward. 6.30am for an examination is too early.”
On social media, similar frustrations were echoed. Olaoluwa Yinka, a guardian, lamented on X, “My younger sister has just travelled today for her UTME tomorrow morning. From Abeokuta, she was sent to Ijebu Igbo by 6.30am. This is very absurd.
“When I wrote JAMB, I did so around 9 am and the heavens did not fall. This CBT is the problem. Students get to the centre, and sometimes the systems don’t work as well.”
Another X user, Lucas Oluwadare (@lucasoluwadare1), also expressed dissatisfaction, “My younger sister is scheduled to sit the exams tomorrow by 6.30am, too. She has to come sleep over at my apartment since it’s closer, so she will meet up as early as possible tomorrow morning. The anyhowness of this country is top notch.”
Social media activist, Rinu Oduala, criticised JAMB’s scheduling, tweeting, “Again, why are you scheduling exams for 6.30am, @JAMBHQ? And expect teenagers to find their ways 50km plus away from home? How can educated people make nonsensical policies for citizens and kids in this country? Does it make any sense?”
Speaking with The PUNCH, another parent, Nnem Chacha-Gold, recounted her ordeal accompanying her daughter to Ikorodu from Ejigbo, “I had to follow my daughter to her centre in Ikorodu from Ejigbo. When I got there, they said we (parents) were not welcome at the centre. I even learnt that candidates slept outside their centres to meet up. I can’t imagine my own child sleeping on the street overnight just to meet up. Goodness!”
In a more alarming incident, a 16-year-old candidate, Esther Oladele, went missing after reportedly boarding the wrong bus while traveling from Ajah to her centre in Epe.
Her brother, Richard (@Rickson_), shared on X, “It’s been almost 24 hours since we haven’t heard from my sister. She was going to Epe from Ajah around 1 pm yesterday (Thursday) for her UTME. The last message she sent to us reads thus: ‘I’m scared. I think I entered the wrong car, and my eyes are itchy. E be like say I want to sleep.’”
After an anxious 48-hour search led by concerned citizens and authorities, Esther was eventually found in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. A flier announcing her safe return stated, “We are overjoyed to share that Esther is home safe and sound! Words cannot express our gratitude to everyone who played a part in bringing her back. Your reposts, prayers, and unwavering support gave us strength and hope throughout this difficult time. We are eternally grateful for the kindness and compassion of our community.”
Addressing issues around impersonation, JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, bemoaned the persistent examination malpractice and Nigeria’s unsuitability for remote examinations, “If Nigerians want comfort, let us behave very well. If we are transparent, we can do these CBT exams at home and submit them online. We will just send questions to them and they will answer and send them back to us. Then, we will grade and send them back the results.
“But, you know what will happen if we try to do that. Several countries are doing their central examinations from home. But, can we do that in Nigeria?”
Clarifying Misconceptions: JAMB Says Exams Begin at 8am, Not 6am
Amid rising complaints, Benjamin clarified that the UTME examinations officially start at 8am and not 6am or 6:30am as widely misunderstood.
“Our exams (UTME) start at 8am. There is no exam by 6am or 6.30am,” he explained.
“If you are flying today and your exam is by 8am, you are advised to be at the airport an hour or so before that time.
“There is no examination at 6.30am. All exams start at 8 o’clock, but no one is expected to stroll to the examination hall by 8am without any pre-examination checks. We do this to guide these candidates.”
He emphasized that the early reporting time was to avoid late arrivals, “Once we tell them the examination is by 8am, they will show up at 8.30am or 10am and start telling us cock and bull stories. I know a reasonable number of them will come late even if it is fixed at 12pm.”
On safety concerns about candidates setting out early, he added, “In any case, 6.30am anywhere in Nigeria is daybreak. I came out today at 6am, and it was as bright as anything. But I need to stress that the examination is not at 6am. The first session of our exams starts at 8 am.
“But candidates are expected to be at the centre from 6.30am. Some of them still come by 7am or 7.30am. But if you come to that centre 30 minutes late, you won’t sit the examination because they must have done some preliminaries that you won’t be able to do.”
Distance to Centres: No Need for Overreaction, Says JAMB
On the matter of far-flung examination centres, Benjamin defended the board’s arrangements, “Do they want JAMB to build a centre for them in their backyards so they can write the exam there?
“This is something someone does once a year. That same person would get to the airport by 4am if he were billed to travel to London and British Airways sets the check-in time at 4.30am. But when they come to Nigeria, they don’t want to make any sacrifice.”
He stressed that only a small percentage of candidates needed to travel long distances, “We have four schedules in a day. There is a schedule for an exam at 8 am, another at 11 am, another at 2 pm, and there is the last one at 3pm. Within this 10 per cent, the number of candidates who would need to travel one or two kilometres to their exam centres is less than one per cent. Most of these candidates scheduled for 8 am will stroll to their centres.”
Candidates, he said, are allowed to choose their exam towns at registration, “We have what we call examination towns. Within these towns, centres are clustered. Candidates are at liberty to choose their examination towns. If you are on the mainland of Lagos, there are many exam towns in that region. The way it is designed, we look at centres that are close to the towns these candidates have chosen, and we fix them in a nearby centre. It is a matter of proximity.”
Looking ahead, Benjamin expressed optimism that infrastructural improvements would eventually make the process even easier, “When we develop like Qatar, Singapore and other developed countries, we will have centres for everyone.”
Adamawa Parents Protest Over Power Outage
In Adamawa State, parents whose wards sat for the UTME at Modibbo Adama University CBT centre demanded the cancellation of the affected exams, following disruptions caused by a power failure.
The protest on Friday was spurred by outrage over the generator running out of fuel, cutting off power for more than 30 minutes while candidates were still logged in.
A parent, Peter Vandu, expressed frustration, “We cannot allow our children’s future to be jeopardised because of negligence. My daughter was in the middle of her exam when everything shut down. JAMB must cancel the exercise at this centre and reschedule it, or we will seek legal redress.”
