The South East Senate Caucus has expressed worries over what it described as ‘curious and highly suspicious’ Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination glitch in some centres in Lagos and especially in the whole of South East in the 2025 exam circle.
The caucus, in a statement by its chairman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe on Saturday in Abuja, said it would be disheartening to contemplate such conspiracy theory, “that there is a narrow agenda being pursued to deliberately shortchange and harm the future of our children.”
Though, the caucus, after a careful assesment of the reports of the ugly incident, noted with cautious optimism the efforts to mitigate the near disaster, particularly the rescheduling of the examination, it warned that a future reoccurrence will be unacceptable.
Nonetheless, the South East Senators, he added welcomed the timely acceptance of fault as expressed through the open declaration of regret and tearful apology by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) management, particularly its Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede.
Notwithstanding, the South East lawmakers, according to Senator Abaribe, hopes and warns that such display of penitence in public would not be an effort to mask a future sinister agenda aimed at harming the educational advancement of children of the South East region.
“The so-called glitch as curious and suspicious as it were is enough to erode confidence and dangerously lower national pride among the future generation”.
“The relevant national education drivers must recognise the inherent danger of injecting hateful politics and narrow parochial consideration in both policy enunciation and its implementations”.
“That the glitch happened in the whole of South East raises pertinent questions that must be answered by JAMB to assuage the growing frustrations and fears among the people of the region particularly the children who are directly at the receiving end. We must pursue a Nigerian agenda and not a narrow one that will ultimately injure national unity
“Education remains one of the most important bedrock of any society’s advancement. It is one major indices of development in every facet of life that can never be faulted.Education is a major pivot that triggers national development. Every child is entitled to it, therefore we must not play roulette with,“ Abaribe said.