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The lawmakers who spoke in turns however maintained that the Committee’s proceedings were public. The JAMB official who became visibly angry by the Committee’s resolution stood up, directed his team to follow him, and walked out of the meeting room. Worried by the development, Hon. Oforji immediately directed the Committee Clerk to summon the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest the JAMB representative, but he had already left the premises. While giving update on the Committee’s resolution, Hon. Oforji who described the walkout as “unfortunate and unacceptable,” vowed that the House will not tolerate acts of disrespect or attempts to obstruct its oversight duties. “We wrote three consecutive letters to the Registrar of JAMB requesting these documents. To our surprise, the Registrar failed to appear, and instead sent a former Director of Finance and Accounts, who claimed the committee was out to embarrass them. That is very unfortunate. “You recall that a few minutes ago. We have all experience what the agency, our jurisdiction, the committee on basic educational examination bodies.” Expressing displeasure over the Director’s decision to walk-out from the committee, Hon. Oforji explained that the Committee “summoned JAMB in order to be transparent and accountable to Nigerians. “We requested for 2023-2024 budget performance implementation and remittance to the Federation account and their bank statement. We have three consecutive letters that were written to this agency called the registrar. And I was shocked the registrar was not here. “And the former DFA, who came, you could see that said the committee is bent to embarrass them. Very unfortunate. Why? We are just unintroductionable. The Committee has no intention to witch-hunt any agency on our watch. Rather, our interest is to seem that every agency is accountable to Nigeria. “Like we said, we have no any intention to wish on them, but it’s quite unfortunate what we experienced. So we still insist that they must be accountable, must be transparent, they must submit these documents. And we will even make a valuable request before you. And see, you can also see the acknowledgement on the three good ah occasions that we have extended this request. “So, we have taken a resolution that we gave JAMB from now till Tuesday, the register. The Registrar must appear with his team, not a representative. Otherwise, the committee is poised to take decisions in line with the power vested in this committee. Section 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) must be fully applied to JAMB. So, this is the resolution of the committee.” He added that the committee’s intention was not to witch-hunt any government agency but to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of public funds. “Our responsibility is to make sure that all agencies under our watch are accountable to Nigerians. We have no intention whatsoever to witch-hunt anyone,” he stated. The committee has now given JAMB until next Tuesday for the Registrar to appear in person with his management team to present the requested documents. “Failure to do so will compel the committee to take necessary actions in line with the powers vested in us under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended,” the chairman warned. Other members of the committee also expressed outrage over the incident, describing JAMB officials’ conduct as disrespectful to the National Assembly and the Nigerian people. Hon. Awaji-Inombek Dagomie Abiante said the walkout amounted to contempt of Parliament. “What happened today is most unfortunate. If JAMB can walk out on a committee of the National Assembly, it means they no longer see themselves as accountable to Nigerians. Oversight is a constitutional duty. When an agency refuses to answer questions about public funds, Nigerians have every reason to suspect something is wrong,” he said. Hon. Abiante added that JAMB’s attitude raises questions about transparency in its financial dealings, while recalling past controversies involving missing public funds. “We have heard of instances where snake or something swallowed money. So probably a bigger swallow may have happened, and they have not prepared themselves for the autopsy. “So it’s unfortunate. And if this is what we call democracy, I do not understand where we are headed. We have institutions that have chosen not to be responsible to arms of government, and especially that institution that has been constitutionally mandated to guarantee that the resources of state is not wasted”. On his part, Hon. Rodney Amboiowei who opposed the Director’s hard stance for a closed-door meeting, argued that such request contradicted the principles of openness expected of public institutions. “Public funds must be accounted for in the open. It is not JAMB’s right to dictate that a parliamentary session be held behind closed doors. This is how agencies get lawmakers into trouble. Nigerians deserve to know how their money is spent,” he said. On her part, Hon. Marie Enenimiete Ebikake questioned the identity of the JAMB official who led the delegation, argued that JAMB, as a revenue-generating agency, must be held accountable for its finances and operations, adding that the committee expects the Registrar to appear personally next week. “It’s even more embarrassing that the man who walked out was not the Registrar. We don’t even know who he is. We simply asked them to introduceAfter introduction, the JAMB Registrar’s representative, Mr. Mufutau Bello requested that the investigative hearing on budget performance since 2023 to date should be held behind closed doors themselves and they refused. For all we know, he could have been impersonated. “Nigerians want to know what JAMB is doing with their money. The Registrar must appear before this committee by Tuesday to explain,” she said. NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
