Many candidates in Kwara State are yet to sit for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination two days after the official commencement of the examination. Weekend Trust gathered that disruption of the examination being conducted by the Joint Admission Examination Board, was caused by technical and logistical challenges across several Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres. Specifically, network failures, power outage and faulty generators were reported to have affected the conduct of the examination, leading to repeated delays, cancellation of sessions, and rescheduling of candidates in some centres.

Findings showed that the situation left many candidates stranded for hours, while others were informed that they would be rescheduled without clear timelines. The development, however, heightened anxiety among affected students and parents. A candidate, Mohammed Sumbo, who spoke to Weekend Trust, said he had been unable to write the examination for two consecutive days despite being rescheduled.

“My centre was initially in Eyenkorin on Thursday at 6am. But when we got there, the centre said the network was bad and later on, they said their generator was faulty. “When they later said the network was okay, they said the time was almost spent and that JAMB would contact us.” He said he could not say if candidates scheduled for later sessions were not affected.

Mohammed added that he was later rescheduled to Al-Hikmah University, but the problem persisted. “Later in the day, I got a message from JAMB that I had been rescheduled for Friday at Al-Hikmah University. “On getting there, we were about to start and I had even input my login details when they said the system was down and that we would be contacted when we would be rescheduled,” he said.

“So, for two days now, I have not been able to do my CBT and I don’t know how that will play out subsequently,” he said. He further noted that the number of affected candidates was quite large, although he could not give an exact figure. Another candidate, Barakat, who wrote her examination at the University of Ilorin CBT centre, said there were no major technical issues at her centre.

However, she complained about the limited time allocated for the examination, saying it placed pressure on candidates to complete their papers within a short period. When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of JAMB in Ilorin, Mrs Mary Ayanda, declined detailed comment on the issue, saying she would call back, before ending the call.