The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has declared that an ad hoc staff member, not the examination board or the test centre, is responsible for the hijab controversy that erupted during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) at Esther Oshikoya Computer Based Test Centre in Ibadan on Thursday, April 16.

JAMB's Public Communication Adviser, Fabian Benjamin, stated this in a release that the board's monitoring mechanisms detected the incident during the screening exercise for the first session of the examination, prompting an immediate intervention.

The board disclosed that it contacted the ad hoc official involved and issued a direct directive that no candidate wearing a hijab should be compelled to remove or adjust it during screening.

"The Board wishes to state clearly that this act was neither perpetrated by the centre nor part of its official protocol," Benjamin noted. "It was the action of an overzealous ad hoc staff member who failed to adhere to the Board's established guidelines regarding candidates' religious attire."

JAMB maintained that the incident did not reflect its institutional policies and reaffirmed its respect for the religious beliefs and cultural practices of all Nigerians.

The board assured candidates nationwide that their rights to religious expression, including dressing in accordance with their faith, remain protected under its policy framework.

"We assure all candidates, regardless of faith, that their rights to religious expression, including dressing, remain a cornerstone of our policy," the statement added.

To forestall a recurrence, JAMB confirmed that all ad hoc personnel have been further briefed and reminded of the approved screening procedures at all centres.

The controversy followed reports that Muslim female candidates at the Ibadan centre were asked to remove their hijab before being allowed into the examination hall. The UTME is the annual entrance examination for admission into tertiary institutions across Nigeria, with thousands of candidates sitting the exercise nationwide this year.