JAMB mass failure deliberately targets South-East candidates — ASUU finally opens up 

JAMB mass failure deliberately targets South-East candidates — ASUU finally opens up

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) branch, has threatened to take legal action against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over what it describes as “deliberate mass failure” in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Chairman of ASUU-UNN, Dr. Óyibo Eze, voiced strong concerns during a press briefing in Nsukka, alleging that the results were manipulated to disadvantage candidates from the South-East region.

Dr. Eze claimed that the overwhelming number of failures among South-East candidates appeared intentional, aimed at limiting their access to tertiary education. “My office has been flooded with complaints from parents and members of the public over this coordinated academic injustice,” he said.

He noted that out of the 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 UTME, more than 1.5 million scored below 200 — a majority of whom were from the South-East and Lagos State, which has a large Igbo population.

Eze argued that such discrepancies reflect systemic bias: “JAMB is aware that students from the South-East often need much higher scores to gain admission, while candidates in other regions can gain entry into competitive programs like medicine with scores as low as 120.”

He urged governors of South-East states to speak up against what he described as educational discrimination. While supporting measures against exam malpractice, he insisted that innocent candidates should not be punished en masse.

Eze cited the case of University Secondary School, Nsukka, where reportedly no student scored above 200, despite the school’s reputation for academic excellence. “Even if some malpractice occurred, it cannot justify failing an entire centre,” he added.

The ASUU-UNN chairman warned that if JAMB fails to review the results and award merited scores, the union would seek redress in court. He also cautioned that the issue could trigger nationwide protests if left unresolved.