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

The body which runs Nigeria's university-entrance exams has admitted to a "technical glitch" which compromised some results of this year's tests, after nearly 80% of students got low grades.

Students have complained about not being able to log in to the computers, questions not showing up and power cuts making it impossible to take the examinations.

The low pass rate has sparked widespread outrage, especially after one candidate took her own life.

Faith Opesusi Timileyin, 19, who was aspiring to study microbiology at university, died after swallowing poison, her family said.

Her father and elder sister told the BBC that she had sat the exam for the second time and got 146 marks out of 400, lower than the 193 she had last year.

"The pain made her take her own life," her father, Oluwafemi Opesusi, told BBC Pidgin.

Generally 200 or above out of 400 is enough to get a place in university in the exams run by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (Jamb).

Only 400,000 of the 1.9 million students achieved that mark, one of the worst performances in recent years.

One student, Favour Eke, told BBC Igbo that 10 of the 165 questions didn't appear on the screen - all she could see was the multiple choice options for the answers.

"We were told to omit the blank questions and continue the exam but it was very hard to concentrate after that," she said.

She has also experienced technical problems getting her results, meaning she is very unlikely to get into university this year - the third time she has taken the exams.

She sat the test in the capital, Abuja, which is not one of the centres where students can retake their exams, leaving her completely distraught.

Another student said he had trouble logging in to the computer before someone else's profile mysteriously appeared on the screen, showing different questions and then the machine briefly shut down completely.

"I did not get to answer all the questions when they told us our time was up because a lot of my time was wasted due to those technical difficulties," he said.

The exams body has apologised for the "painful damage" and "the trauma that it has subjected affected Nigerians".

In a press conference, Jamb registrar Ishaq Oloyede broke down in tears as he apologised.

He announced that almost 380,000 candidates in 157 affected centres from a total of 887, would be able to retake their exams starting from Saturday.

The zones that are most affected are Lagos and several states in the south-east.

Jamb blamed a failure of the computer system to upload exam responses by candidates in these areas during the first days of the exams.

It said an "unusual level of public concerns and loud complaints" had "prompted us to do an immediate audit or review". Ordinarily, this would have happened in June, it said.

The national exam, known as the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), is a computer-based test that is a requirement for those joining universities and other tertiary institutions.

The 2025 test, which was conducted in March, was marred by disruptions due to power outages in some areas.

The head of the exams body earlier this week defended the poor results, saying they reflected the "true academic abilities" of the students and were because of a clampdown on cheating.

Many Nigerians on social media have been calling for accountability, with some seeking Oloyede's resignation.

Opposition figure Peter Obi said that while the admission of fault was commendable, the issue raised "a very concerning issue on glitches and the grave havoc" in critical institutions.

Rights activist Rinu Oduala said it was "incompetence. It's educational sabotage. He should be arrested immediately."

Additional reporting by Chukwunaeme Obiejesi, Andrew Gift, Madina Maishanu and Marvelous Obomanu in Nigeria