JAMB evades probe as documents show Reps Committee Refunded oversight funds

… WAEC stands with Reps Committee, denies allegations against lawmaker

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, contradicting allegations that the panel extorted examination bodies.

Records indicate that the committee returned the money in full after it was unable to carry out all aspects of the planned oversight exercise. This development counters claims that lawmakers pressured examination agencies to surrender portions of their internally generated revenue under the guise of legislative oversight.

In March, the House of Representatives resolved to investigate a technical error that affected 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 probe, the committee requested JAMB to submit documents relating to its 2023, 2024 and 2025 budgets and internally generated revenue, details of revenue generation and budget implementation, evidence of remittances to the federation account, and corresponding bank statements. JAMB did not submit the documents within the stipulated timeframe, prompting the committee to write to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) to obtain the board’s financial records and remittance details.

For the oversight exercise, JAMB facilitated logistics for the committee to inspect its underage examination programme scheduled to take place 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 the committee’s legislative schedule, members were only able to visit the Abuja centre. As a result, N43 million was refunded to JAMB on November 11 through the Treasury Single Account (TSA) after the board provided its bank details. The oversight visit was covered by national media outlets, 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 but later walked out after lawmakers rejected a request for a closed-door session. Oloyede subsequently appeared before the committee on November 16, apologised for the incident and submitted the requested documents.

Further records show that JAMB returned the funds to the committee again on November 17 while the investigation was ongoing. The committee refunded the money once more on November 19, stating that it had no basis 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), the National Examinations Council (NECO), the 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. The reports also claimed that the chairman engaged consultants to audit the accounts of examination bodies and replaced one consultant after disagreements over the probe.

A member of the committee dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign, noting that the refund transactions showed that 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 the transactions contradicted claims that the N62.7 million released for oversight activities amounted to extortion. He also said no consultant had petitioned the National Assembly or any anti-corruption agency over allegations of coercion or improper engagement.

Amos Dangut, Head of WAEC’s Nigeria Office, also denied claims that the committee demanded money from the examination body. Efforts 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 that financial matters were outside his responsibility.