National Assembly Threatens JAMB For Spending N1.85bn on Meals, Insecticide, Others
- The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been lambasted over N1.85 billion “excessive spending”
- The National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance questioned JAMB's spending of N1.85 billion on meals, refreshments, mosquito killings, and others in 2024
- The federal lawmakers threatened to remove JAMB from the federal government of Nigeria grant in 2025
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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 7 years of experience covering basic and tertiary education in Nigeria and worldwide
FCT, Abuja - The Senate and House of Representatives have lashed out at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over N1.85 billion “excessive spending”
JAMB spent over N1.85 billion on meals, refreshments, mosquito killings, and other things in 2024.
Source: Facebook
The National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance threatened to remove JAMB from the Federal Government’s 2025 budget grant.
As reported by Daily Trust, the federal lawmakers made this known following a presentation by JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede on Monday, January 13.
Oloyede told the finance committee that JAMB remitted N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund but received N6 billion from the Federal Government in 2024.
The JAMB boss’ presentation prompted Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo), to query the rationale behind the decision.
“You spent N1.1billion on meals and refreshments. Are you being freely fed by the government? What this means is that you are spending the money you generate from poor students, many of them orphans.
“You also spent N850 million on security, cleaning, and fumigation in 2024. What did you fumigate? Is it mosquitoes that took all this money?”
Oshiomhole further criticised JAMB for spending N600 million on local travels while challenging the justification for these expenses.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. Abiodun Faleke questions the rationale behind funding a self-sustaining agency with government grants.
“You remitted N4 billion and received N6 billion from the Federal Government. Why not keep the N4 billion and stop the government from funding JAMB?”
Snapshot of JAMB
JAMB is a Nigerian entrance examination board for tertiary-level institutions. The board conducts the UTME for prospective undergraduates in Nigerian universities.
The board is also charged with the responsibility to administer similar examinations for applicants to Nigerian public and private monotechnics, polytechnics, and colleges of educations.
All of these candidates must have obtained the West Africa Senior School Certificate (WASSCE) conducted yearly by the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, or its equivalent, National Examination Council (Nigeria), Senior School Certificate Examination, NECO SSCE.
JAMB generates N22 billion from 2024 UTME
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that JAMB said it has remitted over N6 billion to the federal government coffers as part of its operating surplus after the conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The board disclosed that it has so far contributed over N50 billion as an operating surplus to the national treasury over the past seven years under the watch of Professor Oloyede.
The details of the remittances are contained in the Monday, January 6, bulletin of the board made available to Legit.ng.
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Source: Legit.ng
