The National Assembly has resolved to exclude the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from the Federal Government’s (FG) 2025 budget grants, citing concerns about the agency’s financial practices.
Lawmakers criticised the apparent contradiction in JAMB’s financial operations during an interactive session on revenue projections for 2025, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East).
JAMB’s Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, revealed that the board remitted N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 2024 but received N6 billion from the FG.
This disclosure sparked outrage among committee members, including Abiodun Faleke, Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, and Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo).
Faleke questioned why JAMB, a self-sustaining agency, needed government grants if the board could remit an amount of money.
Senator Oshiomhole further criticized JAMB’s expenditures, highlighting N1.1 billion spent on meals and refreshments in 2024.
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Other expenses scrutinized included N850 million for security, cleaning, and fumigation, N600 million for local travel, N6.5 billion for local training, and N1 billion allocated to a staff housing scheme.
Oshiomhole demanded a detailed breakdown of these expenditures, labelling them as excessive and unjustifiable.
The session also spotlighted broader concerns over low remittances from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in 2024.
Senator Sani Musa emphasised the significant gap between the revenue generated by MDAs and their remittances to the federation account.
“This persistent discrepancy hampers the government’s ability to fund critical infrastructure and social services,” Musa stated, attributing the issue to inefficiency, mismanagement, and potential revenue leakages.
Lawmakers called for stricter oversight of MDAs to address these challenges and enhance fiscal accountability.
