. “What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors,” How JAMB registrar, in tears, admitted 173,387 candidates to retake 2025 UTME
. “Merely 30 minutes after her death, a provisional admission message from JAMB arrived in her Gmail inbox,” sad details of how the 19 year old took own life in Ikorodu Lagos
The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board on Wednesday finally admitted to errors which affected the performance of students during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Platforms Africa reports that this came 48 hours after a 19 year-old female candidate in the examination, Miss Timileyin Faith Opesusi, committed suicide allegedly over poor performance.
The Registrar of the Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede fought tears at a press conference on Wednesday, while admitting to the ugly development.
“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors,” Oloyede said.
Oloyede also announced that about 173,387 candidates in the just concluded 2025 examination would retake the examination.
The UTME is a critical prerequisite for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It tests candidates in four subjects, including the compulsory Use of English, with the other three drawn from their proposed field of study.
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Platforms Africa gathered that Timileyin who lived in Ikorodu Lagos was one of the 1.9 million candidates that sat for the examination.
“She took her own life in Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State on Monday after scoring 190 over 400,’ a neighbour told Platforms Africa.
“The teenager, originally from Abeokuta, had been living with her elder sister in Ikorodu. Timilehin was a calm and respectful young woman with high academic hopes. She had applied to study Microbiology and was deeply disappointed by her score of 190, which she considered lower than her 2024 result.
“She said her last year’s result was better than this year’s,” she added.
After ingesting a substance known locally as Push Out-a common rodent poison Timilehin reportedly went to her sister’s office and asked for palm oil to ease the pain. Her sister, unaware of what had happened, initially ignored her request. Moments later, she raised an alarm when Timilehin’s condition worsened, attracting neighbours and sympathisers.
An eyewitness confirmed that Timilehin eventually confessed on the way to the hospital that she had consumed poison at home before visiting her sister’s workplace.
Efforts to save her life proved futile. She was pronounced dead at Kolak Hospital, Odogunyan.
Merely 30 minutes after her death, a provisional admission message from JAMB arrived in her Gmail inbox.
“The shocking revelation is that she was given an admission message via her Gmail yesterday, immediately after she was confirmed dead at Kolak Hospital, Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos,” a family source stated. Following the incident, her grieving parents arrived from Abeokuta and took her body home for burial.
‘One Or Two Errors,’ JAMB Admits
Registrar of the Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede admitted to errors in the UTME during an ongoing press briefing in Abuja.
“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors,” Oloyede said.
Of the 1.9 million candidates who sat the UTME, over 1.5 million reportedly scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks, raising concerns across the education sector.
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According to the examination agency, a total of 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above, considered top-tier performance, while 7,658 candidates (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63 per cent).
Also, 73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299 while 334,560 candidates (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249.
A total of 983,187 candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, which is widely regarded as the minimum threshold for admissions in many institutions.
In the same vein, 488,197 candidates (24.97 per cent) scored between 140 and 159, 57,419 candidates (2.94 per cent) scored between 120 and 139, 3,820 candidates (0.20 per cent) scored between 100 and 119, and 2,031 candidates (0.10 per cent) scored below 100.
Over 75 per cent of all candidates (1.5 million) scored below 200, average score seeing as the examination is graded over 400.
Some affected candidates threatened to initiate a lawsuit against JAMB.
Platforms Africa
