JAMB faces backlash over allegations against 2025 UTME top scorer

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is facing renewed criticism after its highest-scoring candidate in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Chinedu Okeke, was accused of possible foul play despite scoring an impressive 375 marks.

The controversy escalated after the Board's Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, raised concerns during the 2025 JAMB policy meeting in Abuja, suggesting that there were suspicions surrounding Okeke’s result.

However, education technology expert and CEO of Educare, Alex Onyia, took to social media platform X to provide clarifications, accusing the Board of unjustly casting doubt on the integrity of the Anambra-born student.

According to Onyia, Okeke was one of many candidates impacted by a technical glitch that disrupted the initial round of the 2025 UTME.

He was later scheduled for a repeat examination, where he achieved the highest score nationally.

“Chinedu filled all the required documents appropriately, and his updated details were transmitted to JAMB. The inconsistencies were not his doing,” Onyia explained, pointing to a 2021 error when incorrect information was pulled from Okeke’s National Identification Number (NIN) profile into JAMB’s system.

Okeke, who applied to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Lagos, was previously admitted to study Medicine at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 2024 — a fact JAMB flagged as suspicious.

However, Onyia insisted that the discrepancies had been long resolved through JAMB’s official correction process.

“His profile page reflects the correct information,” he stated, urging the Board to conduct a fair investigation and issue an apology to Okeke for the reputational damage caused.

The matter has since sparked debate online, with many demanding greater transparency in JAMB’s review process and protection for candidates wrongly accused.