Over 2.2 million candidates yesterday sat for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in about 966 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres across Nigeria.
The exercise, which runs till Wednesday, April 22, is being conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) under strict supervision, with enhanced security measures and technological safeguards deployed to ensure a smooth, transparent, and credible process.
The Guardian reports that while the examination proceeded seamlessly in some centres, others encountered technical difficulties.
The situation triggered a wave of mutual accusations between CBT centre operators and officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), with each side attempting to shift responsibility for the disruptions.
While some centre administrators attributed the glitches to issues with the examination platform and delayed question uploads from JAMB, the Board’s representatives insisted that the problems stemmed from inadequate infrastructure and poor maintenance of equipment at the centres.
At the CBT centre at Skillpath International Academy in Karu, Abuja, where 4,000 out of the 2.2 million candidates are expected to write the exam, candidates were seated as early as 8am but several complained about malfunctioning desktops, mice, and keyboards.
Although the first session was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m, candidates faced a delay of about 15 minutes, as the examination questions did not appear on their computer screens until approximately 8:45 a.m.
A CBT technician identified simply as Nonso blamed JAMB for the delayed start of the examination, lamenting that such setbacks could unsettle candidates.
He added that a similar situation had occurred during the mock examination. “They delayed for about an hour because of uploading of questions. This can make candidates forget what they read,” he said. “The candidates are supposed to just walk in, log onto their system and write their exams. The delay contributes to poor performance”.
In a swift reaction, JAMB General Monitor Group Representative, Nnenna Akajemeli was, however, displeased with the centre, blaming the management for failing to ensure that all systems were fully functional before the commencement of the examination.
She stressed that accredited centres are expected to meet strict operational standards, warning that lapses of such nature could attract sanctions from the board.
“There’s an issue, they have discrepancies. While some systems were working, others were not working. And so, the technical job person had to escalate.
“Some systems have glitches while others were working. As a result of the escalation, they’ve been asked to reschedule the whole process. So, they will redo it for this batch because it will now jeopardize the success of their exam.
“This is just in line and in keeping with what JAMB has promised to do for them so that nobody’s chances are compromised. It is just to be fair to them”, she explained.
She questioned why the CBT centre was granted approval by the examination body in the first instance, insisting that the centre was not adequately prepared.
Addressing the centre owner, Alphonsus Ekpenyong she said: “JAMB has a standard. 250 systems on the ground and then backup. Where are they set on backup? There’s no backup system. So, why did JAMB approve the center if you don’t have backup system?”
Ekpeyong, however, pushed back, insisting that his centre was not deficient, adding that it had not encountered such disruptions in previous years.
Recall that technical glitches had affected 157 out of the 887 CBT centres in the 2025 exercise, leading the examination body to order a resit for 379,997 candidates.
It remains to be seen if the technical issue at the CBT centre at Skillpath International Academy is an isolated one or widespread.