JAMB Registrar Should Resign, Be Tried For Manslaughter – Sowore
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has demanded the resignation and prosecution of the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, following the death of 19-year-old UTME candidate, Timilehin Faith Opesusi.
Opesusi reportedly died by suicide after scoring 190 in the 2025 UTME.
In a tragic twist, she received a provisional admission offer via email just 30 minutes after her death. The incident has sparked national outrage.
Reacting to the development in a social media post on Wednesday, Sowore said, “The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (@JAMBHQ), Prof. Oloyede, bears responsibility for the organization’s egregious errors, which have devastatingly claimed a young life. Shedding crocodile tears is not a remedy for these infractions.
“As a first step, he should resign, followed by a thorough investigation and possible prosecution for manslaughter. Moreover, JAMB must be scrapped.”
Sowore’s call followed an emotional press conference where Prof. Oloyede broke down in tears and admitted to technical lapses in the 2025 UTME that disrupted the performance of many candidates.
The exam body acknowledged problems with computer systems and scoring, confirming that hundreds of thousands of candidates were affected.
According to JAMB, 379,997 candidates across Lagos and the five South-East states will be rescheduled for another examination sitting.
Speaking in Abuja, Oloyede said, “In simple terms, while 65 centres (206,610 candidates) were affected in the Lagos zone (comprising only Lagos State), 92 centres (173,387 candidates) were affected in the Owerri zone, which includes the South-East states.
“In clear terms, in the process of rectifying the issue, the technical personnel deployed by the service provider for the Lagos and South-East zones inadvertently failed to update some of the delivery servers.”
He added, “As Registrar of JAMB, I hold myself personally responsible, including for the negligence of the service provider, and I unreservedly apologise for it and the trauma that it has subjected affected Nigerians to, directly and indirectly.”
Sowore, who had earlier criticised multiple government agencies, also posted, “Time to scrap these extracurricular bureaucratic busybodies … JAMB, NYSC, TETFund, NELFUND — they are all useless.”
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
