PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES
The National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance has exonerated the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) of alleged misappropriation of funds in its 2024 budget implementation.
This decision comes after a thorough review of JAMB’s financial dealings, and the committee has deemed the board’s actions to be satisfactory.
Sen. Sani Musa, the Committee’s Chairman of the committee, said in a statement that the board was erroneously accused of reckless spending, given the documents submitted to the committee by JAMB.
He stated that during a budget defence session with JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the committee questioned some of JAMB’s expenses, including a whopping N1.1 billion spent on meals and N850 million on fumigation, among other expenditures.
Sani revealed that the JAMB Registrar attempted to clarify the alleged expenditures, but was cut off by the committee.
The committee then requested that JAMB provide a detailed breakdown of its budget allocation and spending for 2024 and 2025, according to him.
Sani said: “For the purpose of clarity, the comprehensive report provided by JAMB indicated that the line items mentioned during Monday’s hearing on revenue did not suggest any mismanagement or misuse of the board’s funds.
“On the contrary, the report highlighted the responsible and prudent use of resources under the leadership of the registrar.
“The registrar deserves commendation for demonstrating financial discipline and accountability in managing the board’s resources effectively.
“This level of stewardship serves as a model for public institutions across the nation.”
Persecondnews reported on Monday, January 13, that the committee threatened to stop the Federal Government’s allocation to JAMB in the 2025 budget.
The committee’s stance was “shaped” by Prof. Oloyede’s presentation, where he vigorously defended JAMB’s 2025 budget proposal before the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives.
During his presentation, Oloyede broke down the agency’s 2024 budget performance, revealing that they had remitted N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund after receiving a N6 billion grant from the Federal Government.
The committee members, including Mr. Abiodun Faleke and Sen. Adams Oshiomhole, expressed strong reservations, questioning the rationale behind a self-funding agency like JAMB to be receiving allocations from the Federal Government.
The Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Falake asked: “You remitted N4 billion and got N6 billion from the Federal Government. Why not keep the N4 billion and we stop the government from funding JAMB?”
On his part, Sen. Oshiomhole queried: “You spent N1.1bn 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 N850m on security, cleaning and fumigation in 2024. What did you fumigate? Is it mosquitoes that took all this money.”
The former Edo State governor strongly criticized JAMB for its excessive spending, specifically highlighting the N600 million spent on local travels and calling on the Registrar to provide a clear justification for the staggering N6.5 billion allocated for local training.
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