Blank questions, power cuts and a suicide: Nigeria's exams fiasco

Her father and sister told the BBC she took the exam again. She scored 146 out of 400, lower than last year's 193.

"The pain made her take her own life," said her father, Oluwafemi Opesusi.

Generally, a score of 200 or above is needed for university admission. Only 400,000 out of 1.9 million students reached that mark this year. This is one of the worst performances in recent years.

Student Favour Eke shared her experience with BBC Igbo. She said ten questions did not appear on the screen. All she saw were multiple-choice options for answers.

"We were told to skip the blank questions and continue," she explained. "It was hard to concentrate after that."

She faced technical issues getting her results. This makes it unlikely for her to enter university this year, marking her third attempt at the exams.

Eke took the test in Abuja, where retakes are not allowed, leaving her distraught.

Another student reported problems logging into his computer. Someone else's profile appeared on his screen with different questions before the machine shut down.

"I couldn't answer all my questions because time was wasted due to technical difficulties," he said.

The exams body apologized for the "painful damage" caused to affected Nigerians. Jamb registrar Ishaq Oloyede broke down in tears during a press conference while apologizing.

He announced that nearly 380,000 candidates from 157 affected centers can retake their exams starting Saturday. The most affected areas include Lagos and several southeastern states.

Jamb blamed a computer system failure for not uploading exam responses during the first days of testing. They noted an "unusual level of public concerns" prompted an immediate audit or review.

The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is required for university admission and is computer-based. The March 2025 test faced disruptions due to power outages in some areas.

Earlier this week, Jamb defended poor results as reflecting students' true academic abilities due to a crackdown on cheating. Many Nigerians on social media are calling for accountability and some demand Oloyede's resignation.

Opposition figure Peter Obi acknowledged the admission of fault but raised concerns about glitches affecting critical institutions. Rights activist Rinu Oduala called it "incompetence" and "educational sabotage," urging immediate action against those responsible.