The Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has apologised to the House of Representatives over the disrespectful attitude of his staff to the lawmakers.
Oloyede issued the apology while presenting documents requested by the House Committee on Basic Education and Examination Bodies at the National Assembly.
Recall that a director with JAMB, Mr Mufutau Bello had while representing the registrar in October, walked out of the members of the House Committee on Basic Education and Examination Bodies during an investigative hearing.
While appearing before the committee, Bello had asked journalists covering the hearing to vacate the room, claiming the documents he was to present contained sensitive information.
The committee rejected his request, insisting that its proceedings were public and that it was constitutionally empowered to determine how its sessions were conducted.
But instead, Bello directed his team to leave and abruptly walked out of the hearing, leaving lawmakers stunned.
But while apologising, the JAMB registrar said as someone who has served the country at various places and in different capacities, he has enormous respect for authorities, especially the Parliament and would not do or allow anything that will undermine its authority, disrespect or ignore its directives.
He expressed the readiness of the Board to work collaboratively with the committee, assuring that such an incident will not occur again.
Oloyede added that all the documents requested by the committee have been submitted.
Earlier, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Oboku Oforji, explained that the investigation was sequel to a resolution of the House on a motion of urgent public importance on May 15, 2025.
He condemned the behaviour of the JAMB director, Mr Bello, at their last engagement, warning that the committee will not condone any act of disrespect from any agency of government or its official, citing the recent incident involving the Committee and the JAMB’s official.
He said, “We condemn the action of the Board’s officials led by Mr Muftau Bello, Director in the office of the Registrar, on the 29th of October 2025, who were only asked to introduce themselves but rather staged a walkout.
“We will not allow Ministries or Agencies to intimidate or show disrespect to the Parliament. Parliamentarian will continue to act in line with Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which gives it power to carry out oversight functions on Ministries and Agencies”.
According to him, based on the resolution, the House seeks to address the crisis faced during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) examination conducted by JAMB and suggested that at least one Computer-Based Testing (CBT) Centre be constructed in each of the 774 local government areas across the country to prevent what occurred during the examinations.
He said “In view of this, the committee will hear from JAMB on all these and on how the implementation and performance of the agency’s budget/Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from 2023 to date were carried out in compliance with existing laws, evidence of the remittances made to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), as well as the Board’s Bank Statement of account from 2023 to date.
“It is important to clarify to my esteemed colleagues, the agency, and the general public that this committee is not engaging in any form of witch-hunt against our agencies.
“We encourage all agencies to fully cooperate by responding to any requests for documents or information and to participate in briefings with the Committee. This cooperation is crucial for us to carry out our duties effectively as a Parliament”.
