The Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is'haq Oloyede, has clarified that his emotional breakdown while addressing technical glitches in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) was not a sign of weakness but rather a demonstration of accountability.

Speaking on Wednesday during a meeting with Chief External Examiners, Civil Society Organisations, and stakeholders from Nigerian tertiary institutions, Oloyede responded to criticisms that followed the widespread poor performance in the recently concluded examination.

"The emotional breakdown on my part was not a sign of weakness, neither is it an excuse to adjudicate our responsibilities," Oloyede stated, addressing the public reaction to his visible distress when acknowledging the examination's technical failures.

The 2025 UTME results revealed that over 1.5 million candidates out of the 1.9 million who participated scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks. This outcome sparked nationwide concerns across the education sector, prompting JAMB to engage IT experts to investigate the anomalies.

Oloyede expressed disappointment with critics who have been commenting on JAMB's operations without understanding its workings. "It's a pity that some individuals who cannot manage small organisations effectively are busy pontificating about the inefficiencies in JAMB," he remarked.

In a solemn moment during the meeting, the JAMB boss led attendees in observing a minute of silence for a candidate who allegedly committed suicide over the examination results. "I felt really pained when I heard the news," Oloyede said.

Addressing concerns about regional biases, Oloyede emphasized that the Board operates without geographical preferences. "As chief executive of JAMB, I don't really care where any of our staff comes from, all I know is that they have been doing their jobs for years," he affirmed.

The Registrar announced that all candidates who missed the examination initially would be allowed to retake it. This comes as various stakeholders, including the South-East Representatives caucus, have called for the cancellation of the 2025 UTME and some have demanded Oloyede's resignation.

JAMB had previously admitted that what "should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors" in the examination process, acknowledging that technical issues had negatively impacted candidates' performance.