The Senate and House of Representatives have decided to remove the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from the Federal Government’s 2025 budget grant, citing concerns over the board’s financial management.
During an interactive session on revenue projections for 2025, lawmakers questioned the justification for funding JAMB, given its remittances to the Federation Account and the government grants it receives.
This decision followed a presentation by JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, before the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, led by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East).
Oloyede disclosed that JAMB had remitted N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, while receiving N6 billion in funding from the government in 2024.
This prompted committee members to challenge the rationale behind continuing government support for a supposedly self-sustaining agency.
“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?” asked Abiodun Faleke, Chairman of the House Committee on Finance.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo) also criticized JAMB’s spending, specifically the N1.1 billion allocated for meals and refreshments in 2024. “Are you being freely fed by the government? This money comes from poor students, many of whom are orphans,” Oshiomhole remarked.
He further questioned the N850 million spent on security, cleaning, and fumigation, and the N600 million allocated for local travels, challenging the justification for these significant expenses.
The scrutiny also extended to the N6.5 billion earmarked for local training and N1 billion allocated for a staff housing scheme. Oshiomhole called for a detailed breakdown of these expenditures.
Meanwhile, concerns were raised in the Senate about the low remittances from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in 2024.
Senator Sani Musa, Chairman of the Joint Finance Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, expressed the Senate’s deep concern over the significant gap between the substantial revenues generated by MDAs and the low amounts remitted to the Federation Account.
Musa pointed out that this discrepancy hinders the government’s ability to fund essential infrastructure projects and social services. He raised issues of inefficiency, mismanagement, and potential revenue leakages within the MDAs.
