In a scene that shocked the halls of Nigeria\u2019s legislative chamber, officials from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) abruptly walked out of a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education Examination Bodies on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
What began as a routine budget\u2010performance hearing descended into a striking demonstration of defiance \u2013 and a bitter clash between legislative authority and the country\u2019s top exams body.<\/p>\n
The Committee, chaired by Oboku Oforji, had summoned JAMB to account for its 2023-2024 budget performance, management of internally generated revenue (IGR), remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), and bank statements covering the same period.<\/p>\n
Three letters were sent to JAMB on 6 October, 17 October and 23 October 2025 requesting both the documents and the personal appearance of the Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede.<\/p>\n
Instead of the Registrar, JAMB sent a Director, Mufutau Bello, to appear at the hearing.<\/p>\n
Tension escalated when Bello requested that journalists covering the session leave the meeting room, claiming that the documents he intended to present contained \u201csensitive information.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Committee balked: the session would remain public, and only Parliament has the authority to determine how such sittings are conducted.<\/p>\n
In a dramatic turn, Bello visibly upset, ordered his team to withdraw and walked out of the hearing, leaving the stunned lawmakers behind.<\/p>\n
Aftermath and Consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n Fuming at the act, the Committee instructed the Sergeant-at-Arms to detain the JAMB officials\u2014only for the delegation to have already exited the premises.<\/p>\n Chairman Oforji described the walkout as \u201cvery unfortunate\u201d and \u201cdisrespectful,\u201d warning that the legislature would not tolerate any attempt to undermine its constitutional oversight powers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wrote three consecutive letters\u2026 instead of appearing, he sent a former Director who accused us of trying to embarrass JAMB.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Committee has directed that Registrar Oloyede appear\u00a0in person\u00a0along with his management team and present all requested documents by Tuesday. If he fails to appear, the Committee may invoke its powers under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).<\/p>\n Lawmakers were aligned in their condemnation: Rep. Awaji\u2011Inombek Abiante declared the walkout a \u201cdangerous disregard for legislative authority,\u201d hinting at possible financial irregularities.<\/p>\n Rep. Rodney Amboiowei criticised the attempt to bar the press, insisting that \u201cpublic funds must be publicly accounted for.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Marie Ebikake said she was shocked the person leading JAMB\u2019s delegation was not even the Registrar: \u201cWe don\u2019t know who this man is\u2026 For all we know he could have been impersonating.\u201d<\/p>\n This confrontation goes beyond mere procedural dispute. It raises critical questions about governmental transparency, institutional accountability, and the balance of power between agencies and oversight bodies.<\/p>\n The entity charged with admitting millions of students walked away from a hearing meant to scrutinise its finances\u2014and the lawmakers refused to play along.<\/p>\n In the broader context, JAMB has been under pressure for other reasons: earlier this year the South\u2010East caucus of the House demanded Registrar Oloyede\u2019s resignation after technical glitches in the 2025 UTME affected nearly 380,000 candidates.<\/p>\n The walkout may be symptomatic of deeper tensions and public trust deficits.<\/p>\n All eyes now turn to Tuesday, when JAMB must present its boss and full documentation before the Committee\u2014or face serious consequences. The legislature has made clear: failure to comply could trigger arrests, sanctions or other enforcement actions.<\/p>\n For Nigerians watching, the message is loud and clear: the agencies handling public funds and public trust cannot simply shout \u201cwe\u2019re being embarrassed\u201d and walk away.<\/p>\n Dramatis Personae<\/p>\n JAMB: The national examination body, tasked with UTME, admissions, etc.<\/p>\n Ishaq Oloyede: Registrar of JAMB, the official expected to attend but did not.<\/p>\n Mufutau Bello: Director sent in Oloyede\u2019s place; the one who asked journalists to leave and triggered the walkout.<\/p>\n House Committee (Basic Education & Examination Bodies): The oversight body demanding accountability for JAMB\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n The Press: Mixed role\u2014witnesses to the hearing, whose presence was contested.<\/p>\n This story remains\u00a0fluid. With the deadline set and enforcement powers at hand, the next act could be even more consequential than the walkout itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a scene that shocked the halls of Nigeria\u2019s legislative chamber, officials from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) abruptly walked out of a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education Examination Bodies on Wednesday. What began as a routine budget\u2010performance hearing descended into a striking demonstration of defiance \u2013 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5783,7],"tags":[729,1101,7396],"class_list":["post-95739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-education","category-news","tag-jamb","tag-reps","tag-walkout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}