Sowore Demands Oloyede’s Resignation, Calls for JAMB to Be Scrapped Over UTME 2025 Failures

Omoyele Sowore, political activist and former presidential candidate, has called for the resignation and prosecution of Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), following the fallout from the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

JAMB recently admitted to technical failures that compromised the integrity of this year’s UTME, with over 1.5 million out of 1.9 million candidates scoring below 200 out of 400. The Board has announced that at least 379,997 affected candidates will be offered a chance to retake the exam, beginning with SMS notifications this week.

Sowore: “This Is More Than Failure, It’s Negligence”

In a strongly worded statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Sowore condemned the JAMB leadership for what he described as an “egregious failure” that has already cost a young life, though he did not provide specific details on the casualty.

“This is a country of really dangerous public officials,” Sowore wrote.
“While the @JAMBHQ Registrar is here pretending to ‘regret’ the monumental disaster he superintended, he brought to the same press conference a bunch of callous yes-men to clap for him.”

Sowore also accused Oloyede of shedding “crocodile tears” during his recent public apology, insisting that remorse without resignation is unacceptable.

Sowore, who leads the #RevolutionNow movement, called not only for Oloyede’s immediate resignation, but also for a full investigation into JAMB’s operations and potential manslaughter charges stemming from the UTME controversy.

“As a first step, he should resign, followed by a thorough investigation and possible prosecution for manslaughter,” he said.
“Moreover, JAMB must be scrapped. #RevolutionNow.”

The activist's comments reflect growing frustration among parents, students, and civil society groups, some of whom have demanded that Nigeria’s examination systems be restructured or decentralized in response to recurring glitches and credibility concerns.

Earlier in the week, Prof. Oloyede admitted that technical failures had affected a significant number of candidates, and assured the public that a make-up test would be conducted for those affected, beginning in Lagos and the five South-East states.

“Candidates will receive SMS notifications by Thursday,” Oloyede said during a press conference in Abuja.

Despite his public apology and gesture of remediation, critics argue that Oloyede’s tenure, once hailed for reform, may now be irreparably tainted by the UTME 2025 debacle.