The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Basic Education and Services to conduct an investigation into the finances of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, from 2007 till date. In a motion moved by Segun Adekola, Ekiti- PDP, the lawmaker said the total amount JAMB remitted to the Federation Account between 2010 and 2016 was ₦50,752,484, which is about one per cent of the amount the Agency remitted to the Federal Government ”in 2017 alone.”
“Between 2011 and 2015, JAMB earned at least ₦30.7 billion from registration fees by candidates who sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) but remitted a meagre sum to the Federal Government, which, within the period, allocated over N2 billion yearly from the budget to the Board,” the lawmaker said.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, while evaluating the performance of Government Agencies recently, announced that for the first time in its 40 years of existence, JAMB remitted the sum of ₦5 billion into the coffers of the government, with a balance of ₦3 billion still to be remitted, amounting to ₦8 billion within nine months of the tenure of the current management of JAMB.
The lawmaker recalled that the Accountant General of the Federation had, in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, stated that JAMB remitted ₦11,522,808 in 2011, ₦25,303,274 in 2013 and ₦13,926,402 in 2014 but did not make any remittances in 2012, 2015 and 2016 respectively.
He added that the remittance of such an amount by a non-focal revenue generating agency underscores the importance of transparency in the administration and management of government business. He said there was need to beam a search light on other government agencies to guide against flagrant misappropriation of public funds with a view to promoting probity in governance.
The committee is to report back within six weeks for further legislative action.
