JAMB evades probe as documents show Reps Committee Refunded oversight funds

Documents have emerged showing that the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Examination Bodies refunded funds paid to it by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for an oversight assignment, countering allegations that the committee extorted examination bodies.

The records contradict claims that the panel pressured agencies to surrender portions of their internally generated revenue (IGR) under the guise of legislative oversight.

The controversy arose after the House of Representatives, in March, resolved to investigate a technical error that compromised the results of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Adewale Adebayo, a lawmaker from Osun State.

As part of the investigation, the committee requested JAMB to submit documents covering its 2023, 2024 and 2025 budgets and IGR, details of revenue generation and budget implementation, evidence of remittances to the federation account, and corresponding bank statements.

JAMB reportedly failed to provide the documents within the stipulated timeframe.

The committee subsequently wrote to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), requesting JAMB’s financial records and remittance details.

For the oversight exercise, JAMB facilitated logistics for the committee to inspect its underage examination programme scheduled to hold in Abuja, Lagos and Owerri. Documents show that JAMB transferred N62.7 million to the committee on October 8 to cover the exercise.

However, due to legislative engagements, committee members were only able to visit one centre in Abuja. Consequently, N43 million was refunded to JAMB on November 11 via the Treasury Single Account, after the board provided its bank details.

The oversight visit was covered by national media organisations, including AIT and Arise Television.

On October 29, a JAMB delegation led by Mufutau Bello, a director in the registrar’s office, appeared before the committee on behalf of Registrar Ishaq Oloyede. The officials later walked out after lawmakers declined their request for a closed-door session.

Oloyede subsequently appeared before the committee on November 16, apologised for the incident and submitted the requested documents. Following his appearance, JAMB returned the funds to the committee on November 17 while the investigation was still ongoing. The committee again refunded the money on November 19, stating that it had no justification to retain funds for activities it did not carry out.

Despite the refunds, reports later surfaced alleging that the committee extorted examination bodies, including the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO), National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) and the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS).

Some civil society groups and unnamed sources alleged that the committee, chaired by Oboku Abonsizibe Oforji, demanded millions of naira under the pretext of oversight and engaged consultants to audit the accounts of examination bodies.

However, a member of the committee described the allegations as a smear campaign, noting that the refund transactions showed the panel neither requested nor retained funds improperly.

“If the intention were to extort or divert money, there would have been no refunds — certainly not twice. These were traceable bank transfers, not cash payments,” the lawmaker said.

The lawmaker added that no consultant had petitioned the National Assembly or any anti-corruption agency over claims of coercion or improper engagement.

Meanwhile, Amos Dangut, head of WAEC’s Nigeria office, denied allegations that the committee demanded money from the examination body, saying WAEC was not subjected to any form of extortion.

Attempts to reach the heads of other examination bodies were unsuccessful. When contacted, JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, declined to comment on the financial transactions, saying he was not responsible for financial matters.

Very Nigerian

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