A Nigerian law firm, F.K. Nnadi & Co., has issued pre-action notices to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, alleging irregularities in the 2025 Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (Post-UTME) results.
The notices, signed by lead counsel Kene Nnadi, accuse both universities of awarding unjustifiably low scores and withholding the results of several candidates without explanation, potentially affecting their chances of admission.
In addition to the notices, the firm petitioned the House of Representatives and the National Universities Commission (NUC), calling for their intervention. The documents were shared publicly by Alex Onyia, CEO of Educare, an education technology platform. Onyia has been vocal about alleged flaws in the Post-UTME process, particularly software-related issues.
According to the law firm, OAU has been given a three-month ultimatum to respond to its demands, while UNILAG has 30 days. The demands include access to the Post-UTME answer scripts and marking schemes, the immediate release of withheld results, and proper disciplinary hearings for students accused of malpractice.
The firm warned that failure to comply would result in a lawsuit at the Federal High Court. The suit would seek to enforce the rights of affected candidates and may include claims for declaratory reliefs, injunctions, and damages.
UNILAG has since denied any technical glitches in its system. The university’s spokesperson, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, stated that only candidates who violated exam rules were flagged, and that the conclusions were based on evidence gathered through secure video surveillance and other monitoring tools.
However, Alex Onyia alleged that both UNILAG and OAU used the same Post-UTME software, which he claims contained a bug that incorrectly flagged candidates for malpractice and mismatched scores. He added that he had compiled over 750 complaints from affected candidates and offered to facilitate an independent audit for any institution willing to participate.
This controversy follows a turbulent year in Nigeria’s examination landscape. Earlier in 2025, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) discovered a glitch that affected over 370,000 UTME candidates, prompting a partial rescheduling of the exam. Similarly, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) briefly suspended its WASSCE result-checking portal due to technical faults before revising performance statistics from 38 percent to 62 percent.
In its petition to the NUC and the House Committee on Tertiary Education, F.K. Nnadi & Co. requested that the universities be ordered to release withheld results for students not accused of misconduct and ensure transparency in the Post-UTME process.
“Direct both universities to release the withheld results of students who have not been accused of any wrongdoing. Ensure that affected students are granted access to their answer scripts and the marking scheme used, in the interest of transparency,” the petition read.
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.