Candidates who sat for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination(UTME) on the second and third days were left frustrated after waiting almost four hours to access their results, despite the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB) announcing that the scores had been released.
The Board, in a statement issued by its Public Communication Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, who also signed as OrgExpert, said the results of candidates who sat for the examination on Friday, 17 April and Saturday, 18 April 2026 had been released, adding that a total of 1,264,940 results from these two days were now available for candidates to check or view.
To view their results, candidates were directed to send UTMERESULT to 55019 or 66019 using the phone number they used to register for the 2026 UTME.
While the spokesperson of JAMB, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, announced the release of the result on the X platform around 7.19 p.m., candidates kept trying to receive their results which proved abortive until about four hours later.
The candidates expressed their frustration under the comment section on the spokesperson’s platform and monitored by THE WHISTLER, stating that they wasted N100 each time they sent a request to the code but did not receive their results.
Some also referenced Benjamin’s earlier comment urging the candidates to prepare themselves emotionally and mentally to check their results ahead of the release and wondered if he was preparing them for the frustration.
“Good day, Dear 2026 UTME candidates. The results of those who sat for the examination on Friday, 17th and Saturday, 18th April 2026 will be released within the next three hours. Please be prepared emotionally and mentally to check your results,” Benjamin had posted.
A post by @AondonaT8755 around 10:13 p.m stated, “Good evening sir, it has been two hours since you posted and the results are yet out. Same response we were receiving before the post was made. Some candidates have spent over N3,000 on airtime already. What’s the update? Cause most this candidates don’t know what to believe.”
Also, @EnebezerAk44182 posted around 10.55 p.m. stating, “Please do you guys know how much we are spending to check our results and yet they keep telling us that our results is not yet released. Are you guys giving us the money that we are using to check it or are you guys mad if you know, you guys cannot release the results.”
Similarly, @EmmaneulIk25447 posted around 9.42 p.m. saying, “This is not even funny, this is broad day extortion, two hours later after saying the results are available students are wasting hundreds to thousands to check and they aren’t seeing anything, leaving aside that students are now required to pay 100 naira instead of 50,jokers😂.”
For @Ola_yinkaxx who posted around 22.08 p.m, it added, “Why are you guys like this, it’s frustrating. You guys are just playing with our money and our mental emotions. So no one had seen his/her result and you said it’s been released. You guys aren’t trying at all.”
While JAMB is yet to comment on the issue, experts explained that the delays in viewing 2026 UTME results via SMS to 55019 are primarily caused by technical issues with telephone service providers adding that some of the providers experience challenges with delivering bulk SMS, alongside high traffic causing, congestion.
