KEY POINTS

• JAMB released 1,264,940 UTME results from the April 17 and 18 sittings on Sunday evening.
• Total results published so far reach 1,897,692 after Thursday’s earlier batch of 632,752.
• The board apologized after missing a Saturday midnight release deadline.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has released results for candidates who sat the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination on April 17 and 18, ending days of anxiety for more than a million students who had been waiting since Friday.

JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin announced Sunday evening that 1,264,940 results from the two-day sitting are now available. Combined with 632,752 results already published from Thursday’s examination, the total number of results released so far stands at 1,897,692.

“The results of candidates who sat the examination on Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18, 2026, have now been released,” Benjamin said in a statement. “A total of 1,264,940 results from these two days are available for candidates to check.”

Candidates can access their results by sending UTMERESULT to 55019 or 66019 using the phone number registered for the 2026 UTME.

A delay that drew frustration

The release came later than promised. On Saturday, Benjamin had posted on X that results would be out before midnight, asking followers to monitor the account for updates. When midnight passed without a release, the board issued an apology the following morning.

“Our Chief Executive was unavailable due to an important engagement but would be in the office today, and we assure you that the results will be released later today, surely before nightfall,” Benjamin said Sunday.

“We also extend our heartfelt apologies to those who stayed up waiting for the release. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

The statement did not specify what the engagement was or why it affected the result release timeline.

The 2026 UTME has already attracted attention beyond results. Separate incidents at exam centers, including reports of a hijab restriction at an Ibadan center and the abduction of candidates in Benue State, had put the examination cycle under public scrutiny before this week’s results delay added another layer of concern for candidates and their families.