According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria's headline inflation rate decreased to 23.71% in April 2025, down from 24.23% recorded in March 2025, marking a 0.52% drop month-on-month.

The April 2025 inflation figure also represents a significant year-on-year decrease of 9.99% compared to April 2024's rate of 33.69%, though this comparison involves a different base year.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate was 1.86% in April 2025, which is 2.04% lower than March 2025's rate of 3.90%, indicating a slower pace of price increases.

Food Inflation Declines

Food inflation stood at 21.36% on a year-on-year basis in April 2025, showing a substantial 19.27% decrease from April 2024's rate of 40.53%. The NBS attributes this significant decline primarily to the change in the base year used for calculations.

Month-on-month food inflation in April 2025 decreased to 2.06%, down by 0.12% from March's 2.18%. According to the NBS, this decrease resulted from lower prices for staples such as maize flour, wheat grain, dried okra, yam flour, soybeans, rice, and various beans.

Regional Variations

The NBS report highlighted significant regional differences in food inflation rates:

- Highest year-on-year food inflation: Benue (51.76%), Ekiti (34.05%), and Kebbi (33.82%)

- Lowest year-on-year food inflation: Ebonyi (7.19%), Adamawa (9.52%), and Ogun (9.91%)

- Highest month-on-month food inflation: Benue (25.59%), Ekiti (16.73%), and Yobe (13.92%)

- Some states recorded declines in month-on-month food inflation: Ebonyi (-14.43%), Kano (-11.37%), and Ogun (-7.06%)

Consumer Price Index and Other Metrics

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 119.52 in April 2025, a 2.18-point increase from the previous month. The percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending April 2025 over the previous twelve-month period was 28.5%, showing a 0.4% increase compared to April 2024.

Urban inflation stood at 24.29% (year-on-year), 11.71% lower than April 2024's 36.00%, while rural inflation was 22.83%, down 8.81% from 31.64% in April 2024.

Background on Nigeria's Economic Challenges

Nigeria has experienced sharp increases in food prices in recent years, a trend that worsened in 2023 following President Bola Tinubu's removal of petrol subsidies and adoption of a floating exchange rate for the naira. These policies led to steep increases in staple food costs, pushing many Nigerians further into poverty and heightening food insecurity.

In response to the crisis, Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food insecurity in July 2023 and later suspended duties, tariffs, and taxes on essential food imports including beans, wheat, and husked brown rice to combat rising prices.

This latest decline in inflation offers potential relief after prolonged economic pressure on Nigerian households.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Nigeria's Trans Niger Pipeline, a major oil artery transporting crude from onshore oilfields to the Bonny export terminal, burst and spilled oil into the local B-Dere community in Ogoniland, an environmental rights group said on Thursday.

This is the second incident affecting the Trans Niger Pipeline in two months. In March, the pipeline was shut after a blast that caused a fire.

Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, said the spill, which occurred on May 6, was yet to be stopped, adding that the slow response showed a lack of care for the people and was "unconscionable."

"We are in a disaster zone and further disasters can erupt from even an accidental spark of fire," he said. "The fact that this spill that happened a week ago is yet to be stopped sends a very strong point to why the government should focus on cleaning up Ogoniland and not seek to open new oil wells. The old wells should be shut down, and decommissioned."

Ogoniland, one of Africa's earliest crude oil producing areas, has been dealing with oil pollution for decades, but its profits have often flowed to the big oil companies and to Nigerian state coffers. Local residents have long complained of toxic waste and little compensation.

Nigerian oil consortium Renaissance Group, which now owns Shell's former onshore subsidiary that operates the pipeline, confirmed the explosion and said a team of investigators has been dispatched to determine the cause of the spill.

The Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), with a capacity of around 450,000 barrels per day, is one of two conduits that export Bonny Light crude from Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer.

It was not immediately clear whether the TNP was shut. TNP did not immediately provide a statement when asked for comment. A prolonged outage could, however, force its operators to declare force majeure on Bonny Light exports.

Pipeline sabotage and crude theft are some of the major reasons that forced oil majors like Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and Eni to sell their onshore and shallow-water fields in Nigeria to concentrate on deep-water operations.

Renaissance Group, which includes Nigerian exploration and production companies Aradel Energy, First E & P, Waltersmith, and ND Western, along with the international energy group Petroline, completed the acquisition of Shell's former onshore assets in March.

Reuters

Israeli army kills five Palestinian militants in West Bank after pregnant settler killed

Israel's military killed five Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, hours after a pregnant settler was killed in a shooting, as hardline pro-settler leaders including a government minister called for Palestinian towns to be razed.

The military said in a statement it had killed five "terrorists" and arrested a sixth who had barricaded themselves in a building in Tamoun, following an exchange of gunfire and the use of shoulder-fired missiles by Israeli soldiers.

The military wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad later issued a statement saying five of its members were killed while clashing with Israeli forces that surrounded their house in the town of Tamoun, north of the West Bank.

Tamoun is a Palestinian town about 35 km (22 miles) from the Israeli settlement of Brukhin, near which the heavily pregnant woman, Tzeela Gez, was killed on Wednesday night in a shooting that drew strong condemnation from Israeli leaders.

The military said it was searching for those responsible for Wednesday's shooting - whom it did not identify - though it was not immediately clear whether the Tamoun operation was linked.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting, which occurred amid one of the largest Israeli military operations in the West Bank in two decades and while the Israeli military bombards Gaza.

Gunfire could be heard in Tamoun on Thursday, while Reuters footage showed flames and black smoke on the top floor of a house as Israeli soldiers stood on the street outside. The Palestinian WAFA news agency said the Israeli military was demolishing the house where the Palestinian men had been killed.

The Israeli military said soldiers had identified the "terrorists" in a building during an overnight operation in Tamoun and the nearby city of Tubas. It recovered rifles used by the militants in the building in Tamoun, it said.

The military also said that three armed individuals had been arrested in Tubas.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the military had taken the bodies of four of the deceased. The local Red Crescent said it had recovered a fifth body from a burning building.

DEMAND FOR RETRIBUTION

Gez, the pregnant woman, was shot near the Brukhin settlement while travelling to hospital with her husband to give birth. She was pronounced dead at the hospital where her baby was delivered by caesarean section, Israeli media reported.

The baby was reportedly in serious but stable condition, while Gez's husband Hananel was lightly injured.

As retribution, Israel's far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the nearby Palestinian towns of Bruqin and az-Zawiya should be destroyed, just as cities in Gaza have been.

"Just as we are flattening Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza (in the Gaza Strip), we must also flatten the terror nests in Judea and Samaria," Smotrich said on social media, employing the term often used in Israel for the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped security forces would quickly find those responsible for Gez's death, while President Isaac Herzog expressed his condolences to her family.

The chief of Israel's general staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, visited the troops searching for Gez's killer on Thursday near Brukhin.

The Israeli military has killed dozens of Palestinians and destroyed many homes since it launched an operation in January in the West Bank city of Jenin to root out militants.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia says forces capture two settlements, Ukraine says fighting continues throughout front

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Thursday that its forces seized two more settlements in their drive through eastern Ukraine, but Kyiv made no such acknowledgement and its top commander said battles raged over 1,100 km of the front line.

The frontline fighting continued as direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators appeared set to get underway in Turkey.

The talks will be the first direct discussions between the sides since March 2022, but hopes of a breakthrough were limited as Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin ignored a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said there would be no progress towards peace without a meeting between himself and Putin.

A Russian Defence Ministry statement said Moscow's forces had seized Novooleksandrivka, a village near Pokrovsk, a logistics hub that Moscow has targeted for months without capturing it.

The ministry said its forces had also taken Torske, further northeast and near two other cities Moscow would like to capture in the longer term -- Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

The General Staff of Ukraine's military, in a late evening report, listed Novooleksandrivka as one of more than dozen settlements which it said had come under Russian attack.

The General Staff made no mention of Torske, but the popular blog DeepState said Russian forces had tried to seize the settlement but had been repelled.

Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield reports from either side. Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, currently holds about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine's top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Kyiv wanted a "just peace", but continued to face "active combat continuing on a stretch of the front extending about 1,100 km (680 miles)".

Describing on Telegram his presentation to a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, Syrskyi said Russia "has turned its aggression against Ukraine into a war of attrition and is using a combined force of up to 640,000 troops."

After an initial unsuccessful drive on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in the first weeks of the invasion, Russian forces focused their efforts on the Donbas in the east, made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

They have been capturing village after village for several months, but Ukrainian forces have achieved some successes in holding back the advance, particularly around Pokrovsk.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky seeks to make a “political show” out of the expected peace talks with Russia in Istanbul, even if it means disrupting the negotiations, former Ukrainian diplomat Andrey Telizhenko has told RT.

Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said he would be waiting for the Ukrainian team starting at 10 a.m. local time on Friday, for the first direct talks since 2022. During a visit to Ankara on Thursday, Zelensky criticized what he described as the “low-level” composition of the Russian delegation, but nevertheless promised to dispatch his own negotiators to Istanbul.

Telizhenko told RT that Zelensky has been relying on France and the UK for weapons and financial aid because he “does not listen to Washington anymore.” If the Ukrainian leader secures more support from the West, he “may agree and move forward with the negotiations, or he may sabotage them,” the ex-diplomat said, expressing doubts that real talks could “ever happen.”

“This is just a political show, not diplomacy,” he said. “Zelensky is not thinking about Ukrainians. He is trying to play this game for himself,”Telizhenko argued.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations were initially expected to meet in Istanbul on Thursday after President Vladimir Putin proposed resuming direct talks without any preconditions. According to Moscow, the negotiations should resume from the process that was interrupted in the spring of 2022, when Ukraine abruptly walked away from the table.

Zelensky initially ruled out any negotiations with Moscow unless Russia agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Moscow has argued that Kiev would use such a truce to rearm and regroup its forces. Putin has said that, for a lasting ceasefire, Ukraine must halt its mobilization campaign and stop receiving weapons from abroad.

Reuters/RT

Burkinabe leader Ibrahim Traore is acting like a rock star. It’s not entirely his fault. He’s receiving a lot of help from dozens of social media users, especially TikTokers, who are desperate to anoint him as the best thing to come out of Burkina Faso since Thomas Sankara.

Traore must be enjoying it, because even though he is pretending, he knows he’s not Sankara. He is an opportunist, happy to capitalise on the current frustration in his country and the Sahel for his benefit.

A recent report by The Africa Report summarised Traore’s fictional character. “In dozens of viral TikTok edits, Traore leads imaginary armies, topples Western empires and is hailed as the ‘new Thomas Sankara.’ The captions, bold and uncompromising, include ‘Africa’s Messiah!’ ‘The People’s Captain!’ and ‘France Must Fall.’”

Traorephytes even invent videos of Rihanna and R Kelly (imprisoned since 2021) serenading the Burkinabe leader with hit songs!

Fairytale

If he were an elected president, Traore would have served three years of his first term. When he overthrew the government of President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in September 2022 due to the rise in Islamic insurgency, and announced himself as head of the new Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (PMSR), he promised to hand over power back to civilians in two years – that was in 2024. He hasn’t said a word about any possible new date since, and if you have seen him recently, you would know why.

Apart from the adulation he has enjoyed as a social media fairytale, and dressing the part in stylish fatigues and matching neck scarves, berets, and boots, he has also talked the part.

He rallied support by giving speeches – not as many or as eloquently as he has been credited with – against Western imperialism and colonialism, vowing to create conditions at home to stem youth migration and tackle insurgency. Traore has portrayed himself as the new face of the African Renaissance. But talk is cheap.

Traore and the other delinquents

He has been in good company. The turmoil in West and Central Africa, which began in Chad, Mali, and Guinea, and later spread to Niger, has disrupted security and trade in the subregion, rupturing the 49-year-old Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Burkina Faso experienced two coups in a single year. After breaking out of ECOWAS, Traore and his fellow delinquents in the Sahel have pursued a singular mission of cutting off the noses of their Sahelian francophone ties to spite the faces of French business and political interests.

To be fair, it’s a moment of reckoning for decades of brazen French insensitivity, compounded by President Emmanuel Macron’s lack of charity when he described the relationship between France and Francophone West Africa as “part of a civilising obligation.” Which was self-interested nonsense.

Trouble speaking French

France has accumulated a notoriously poor record on the continent that it can hardly be proud of. In Niger, for example, Tom Burgis writes in his book, The Looting Machine, that French state-owned atomic energy group Areva's profit from uranium is twice Niger’s GDP. The shameful French footprint is the same in Burkina Faso and throughout the region.

Fourteen Francophone countries, including the troubled ones – Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Chad – hold 50 percent of their reserves in the French Treasury. This arrangement has been widely criticised, but if shame is in the French dictionary, it doesn’t exist in the Macron version.

It is this background of despair and frustration, especially among the continent’s youths, that has fostered fairytale messiahs like Traore, who have managed to replace French hegemony with a mix of fussy state control and Russian suzerainty, with the Chinese just around the corner.

If it’s not Sankara…

Traoré is not Sankara, a fact that may be lost on Burkina Faso’s predominantly young population, as well as millennials and Gen Zs across the continent, whose forlorn search for role models tempts them to canonise an impostor. Of course, both are soldiers, similar in age and rank and usurpers of constitutional rule. But that’s where the similarity ends.

Like the demagogues before him, Traore and significant sections of the military and political elite from Maurice Yameogo to Blaise Compaore have been complicit in the misery of their citizens, feeding them instead on a diet of pseudo-ideological jingoism and Western bashing, but offering no genuine alternative. Africa – anglophone, francophone, or lusophone – shares a similar heritage of exploitation; a few of its people, especially the political elite after independence, collaborated with the colonialists to compound the problem.

Hard to beat

Where Traore is trading French hegemony for Russian control, for example, Sankara offered something different. In Burkina Faso: A History of Power, Protest and Revolution, Ernest Harsch said of Sankara, “In a conscious effort at nation-building, the revolutionary government also promoted a new national identity…that revolutionary project succeeded in altering the contours of the state and social and political life.”

Whereas Sankara attempted to forge a proudly African identity, deepening regional integration among ECOWAS countries, Traoré and his cohorts have, by exiting, put at risk the estimated $596.42 billion in trade within the community, excluding informal trade among citizens, which constitutes 30 per cent of the transactions, not to mention the impact on regional collaboration on security.

Sankara pursued radical economic self-sufficiency, agrarian reform, and social justice by outlawing female genital mutilation and promoting women’s rights. He rejected foreign aid, regardless of its source, even if it came without strings attached, something that Traore would be happy to overlook if it came from Russia.

What matters

I get it. With jihadists controlling about 40 percent of the country’s territory (it’s the most terrorised country), and climate shocks compounding its misery, the challenges are as different as are the times. That is why what Traore needs now is not clout-chasing or AI propaganda by Russian-backed Wagner, but sober-minded commitment to turn around the fortunes of his country, one step at a time.

For three years, Traore’s stock has risen amid algorithmic populism expressed in languages he neither understands nor speaks, with minimal institutional reforms, if any, and no prospects or commitment to return the country to civilian rule.

“His rhetoric,” The Africa Report said, “still falls short of real, measurable improvements in security and civic freedoms. There’s a gap between his message and the reality on the ground, something that will ultimately test his legitimacy and legacy.”

That’s not what the netizens want to hear. But in the end, that’s what matters.

** Ishiekwene is the Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book Writing for Media and Monetising It.

Sarah Jacoby

Natural sweeteners — especially maple syrup and honey — have taken over social media recipes. But which one should you use? And are they actually any healthier than plain old sugar?

Both maple syrup and honey are considered natural sweeteners, registered dietitian Grace Derocha tells TODAY.com. "And that's why they get all the buzz," she says.

But a natural sweetener isn't necessarily better for you than other options. Honey and maple syrup are "still added sugars," says Derocha, who is also a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “You still have to be aware of how much you’re consuming,” Derocha says.

Considering that many of us in the U.S. should probably be eating fewer added sugars, it's important to remember these sweeteners don't get a pass just because they're made from a natural source.

But for most people, sweeteners like these can still part of an overall healthy diet. And, depending on your individual health goals and preferences, they may — or may not — be better choices for you. Here's what to know before you drizzle your breakfast in maple syrup or add honey to your morning smoothie.

Maple syrup nutrition

A tablespoon of maple syrup contains:

• 52 calories
• 13 grams of carbohydrates
• 12 grams of sugar

Honey nutrition

In 1 tablespoon of honey, you'll get:

• 64 calories
• 17 grams of carbohydrates
• 17 grams of sugar

Sugar

Maple syrup and honey are both sweeteners, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the main component of both is sugar.

In 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, you'll find 12 grams of sugar (and 52 calories), while the same amount of honey contains 17 grams of sugar (and 64 calories). And neither of them contain any fat or protein, says Natalie Rizzo, registered dietitian and nutrition editor at TODAY.

Keep in mind that these count toward your daily total of added sugars. And, in general, we should try to minimize the amount of these we eat in a day. The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 25 grams of added sugar in a day while men should avoid eating more than 36 grams per day.

Looking just at their sugar content, maple syrup has just a few fewer grams per serving than honey. But their stats here are "quite similar," Rizzo says.

Glycemic index

The glycemic index of a food is a measure of how quickly a food affects the body's blood sugar and insulin levels.

Food with a lower glycemic index has a slower, less significant impact on those levels and, therefore, may be a better choice for people who need to keep an eye on their blood sugar.

When looking at the glycemic index of maple syrup and honey, again, the two foods are very similar. "Both honey and maple syrup have a glycemic index around 50, which is lower than table sugar," Rizzo says.

Specifically, maple syrup has a glycemic index of about 54 while honey's is around 58, Derocha says, so maple syrup has a slightly lower glycemic index than honey does. But four points "isn't that much" of a difference, Derocha says.

Other nutrients

The main component of both maple syrup and honey is the sugar they contain. However, both of them both also provide small amounts of other nutrients and minerals.

In maple syrup, you'll find a bit of the minerals manganese, calcium and copper, as well as riboflavin (vitamin B2), Rizzo says. Meanwhile, honey contains potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorous.

"But both sweeteners only have very small amounts of all of these minerals," Rizzo explains. And the tiny amount of those compounds present in either sweetener is "not enough to really be beneficial to the body," she adds. So you probably shouldn't base your choice of sweetener on the presence of these nutrients.

Both maple syrup and honey contain antioxidants. But you shouldn't be eating either sweetener just for the potential benefits from those antioxidant compound, TODAY.com explained previously, because they are still both primarily sources of added sugar.

Should you use maple syrup or honey?

Maple syrup and honey are both natural sweeteners that contain similar amounts of calories and sugar per tablespoon.

But maple syrup does come with slightly fewer calories and grams of sugar in a serving compared to honey. It also has a mildly lower glycemic index, which may be beneficial for people who need to carefully control their blood sugar levels.

Keep in mind that honey isn't typically considered vegan, Derocha notes, because honey is made by bees. So, people who follow a vegan diet may need to opt for maple syrup over honey for that reason.

Honey does have other health benefits, though, the experts say.

"It has been shown to be a natural cough suppressant in people with respiratory infections," Rizzo explains. "When I was pregnant and couldn’t take cough medicine, I swallowed a spoonful of honey to try to ease my cough, and it does work to some extent."

Honey also has some antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, the experts note, and it has shown some promise in helping to heal topical injuries, like minor burns.

And of course, these two sweeteners have different flavor profiles and traditional uses. Because one isn't necessarily healthier than the other, Rizzo recommends folks simply "choose the one you like the best" or the one that best suits the recipe or dish you're making.

If you're opting for maple syrup, make sure you buy “pure maple syrup,” which is the maple that comes from the tree, Rizzo says. Be aware that some some imitation versions use other types of sugar, like corny syrup, and flavorings to make a processed sugar, sometimes labeled as "pancake syrup."

Today

The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a lawsuit against Pat Utomi, accusing him of attempting to establish a “shadow government” in Nigeria—a move the agency describes as a direct threat to the nation’s constitution and democratic order.

In a suit filed on May 13 at the Federal High Court in Abuja (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025), the DSS is seeking a judicial declaration that Utomi’s alleged actions are unconstitutional and an attack on the legitimacy of the elected government.

Utomi, who was the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate in 2007, is the sole defendant in the case. The DSS, through its counsel Akinlolu Kehinde, argues that the creation of a shadow government is not only illegal but also capable of inciting political unrest, encouraging separatist tendencies, and destabilizing the country.

The agency is asking the court to declare Utomi’s proposed “shadow cabinet” as unconstitutional and tantamount to setting up a parallel authority not recognized under the 1999 Constitution (as amended). It also seeks a perpetual injunction restraining Utomi and his associates from proceeding with the plan.

According to the DSS, the Constitution’s Sections 1(1), 1(2), and 14(2)(a) prohibit any form of governance not derived from democratic elections and lawful authority. The suit argues that Utomi’s actions undermine these provisions and the sovereignty of the Nigerian people.

In a supporting affidavit, the DSS stated that intelligence reports and public materials—including statements and interviews by Utomi—confirm the formation of a “shadow cabinet” allegedly comprising individuals assigned various portfolios. Named members include Dele Farotimi (Ombudsman and Good Governance), and a Policy Delivery Unit Team made up of Oghene Momoh, Cheta Nwanze, Daniel Ikuonobe, Halima Ahmed, David Okonkwo, and Obi Ajuga.

The DSS warned that Utomi’s efforts could mislead the public, weaken faith in the elected government, and erode constitutional order. The agency also disclosed that multiple attempts were made to dissuade Utomi from the initiative, including public warnings by the Minister of Information, but he reportedly remained defiant.

The DSS, tasked with safeguarding national security and constitutional governance, insists Utomi’s actions represent a clear danger to Nigeria’s democratic stability. The suit has not yet been assigned to a judge for hearing.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that over 300,000 candidates from 157 examination centers will retake the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following technical errors that affected the processing of their results.

In a press conference held at JAMB's headquarters in Bwari, Abuja on Wednesday, Registrar Is-haq Oloyede admitted that technical failures by service providers had compromised the integrity of results for candidates who took the examination in Lagos and the South-Eastern states.

"In the process of rectifying an issue, the technical personnel deployed by the Service Provider inadvertently failed to update some of the delivery servers," Oloyede explained. "Regrettably, this oversight went undetected prior to the release of the results."

The error affected 65 centers (206,610 candidates) in Lagos and 92 centers (173,387 candidates) in the Owerri zone, which includes South-Eastern states.

Retests to Begin Immediately

The rescheduled examinations will begin on Friday, May 16, with JAMB contacting affected candidates through text messages, emails, and phone calls. Candidates are directed to reprint their examination slips for the new dates.

JAMB has coordinated with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to avoid timetable clashes for candidates currently taking their Senior School Certificate Examinations.

"Any candidate with a clash of timetable, particularly for Agricultural Science on Friday, would be rescheduled," Oloyede said, adding that most potentially affected candidates have been scheduled for Saturday.

System Failure Despite Quality Assurance Measures

The registrar described the incident as "an easily avoidable error by one or two persons" that overshadowed what should have been "our most successful UTME exercise."

Despite JAMB's extensive quality assurance mechanisms, which include numerous committees, in-house technical experts, and simulation testing, the error occurred during a patch update implemented after an initial issue was detected on April 25.

Oloyede emphasized that the problem was neither a glitch nor sabotage, but rather a failure by one service provider to properly upload patches to center servers during the first three to four days of the examination.

Top Officials and Experts Called In

Following widespread complaints after results were released on May 9, JAMB convened emergency meetings with education experts, stakeholders, and officials, including:

- Boniface Nworgu, an expert in psychometrics from Imo State

- Adenike Osofisan, a technical advisor from the Computer Professionals Council of Nigeria (CPN)

- Kabiru Isyaku, president of the Nigerian Academy of Education

- Representatives from parent-teacher associations and student organizations

- Chief External Examiners from the affected states

Former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka from the Athena Centre also participated in reviewing candidate responses.

Registrar Takes Responsibility

Oloyede took personal responsibility for the failure, stating: "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."

He described the incident as "a significant setback for the Board's reputation" while affirming JAMB's commitment to transparency, fairness, and equity.

The registrar noted that outside the affected centers, the examination results followed normal patterns, with the highest score in 2025 (374) being the best in the last one-and-a-half decades, though overall performance was "sadly poorer than that of last year."

JAMB has pledged that all affected candidates will be given the opportunity to retake their examinations under fair conditions.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) reversed its recent downward trend yesterday, closing on a positive note as market capitalization increased by N314 billion amid strategic buying in Beta Glass and 39 other stocks.

The All-Share Index (ASI) gained 501.14 points, representing a growth of 0.46 percent to close at 108,762.61 points. Market capitalization rose correspondingly to close at N68.357 trillion.

The market's upward movement was driven by gains in medium and large capitalized stocks, including Beta Glass, Oando, Nigerian Breweries, Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), and Industrial and Medical Gases.

Market Analysts Project Continued Growth

Market analysts remain optimistic about the exchange's short-term outlook. Afrinvest Limited stated: "We expect the bourse to sustain the positive momentum, due to Q1 earnings-driven improved valuation of major tickers and muted activities in the primary market segment for fixed income papers this week."

Similarly, Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage noted: "The market looks like it's finding its footing again — investors are hunting for bargains, jumping on fundamentally sound names. If this steady flow of interest across different sectors keeps up, we could see prices climb further."

Top Gainers and Losers

Investor sentiment improved as measured by market breadth, with 40 stocks advancing while 24 declined.

Top Gainers:

- Chellaram and Oando led with 10 percent gains each, closing at N11.44 and N49.50 respectively

- Transcorp followed closely with a 9.99 percent increase, closing at N46.25

- Beta Glass rose 9.96 percent to close at N194.30

- Caverton Offshore Support Group climbed 9.85 percent to close at N3.68

Top Losers:

- Haldane McCall led decliners with a 9.85 percent drop, closing at N4.21

- Academy Press fell 7.33 percent to close at N4.30

- UPDC declined 6.25 percent to close at N3.00

- ABC Transports depreciated 6.13 percent to close at N2.91

- NPF Microfinance Bank dropped 5.14 percent to close at N2.03

Trading Volume Increases

The total trading volume rose by 20 percent to 498.48 million units valued at N10.782 billion, exchanged in 14,916 deals.

Tantalizer dominated the activity chart with 57.803 million shares valued at N131.323 million, followed by Access Holdings with 36.792 million shares worth N784.432 million. Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 31.844 million shares valued at N2.191 billion, while Fidelity Bank and Nigerian Breweries traded 23.398 million and 21.033 million shares worth N470.486 million and N1.08 billion respectively.